Caldicott, Helen (1938–)

Australian pediatrician, anti-nuclear campaigner, conservationist, and orator. Pronunciation: COLD-eecot. Born Helen Mary Broinowski, Aug 7, 1938, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; dau. of Philip Broinowski (paint factory manager) and Mary Mona Enyd (Coffey) Broinowski (interior designer); attended University of Adelaide Medical School, Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, 1961, Paediatrics, 1975; lived with family in America (1966–69), where she had a fellowship at Harvard Medical School in Boston; m. William Caldicott (pediatric radiologist), Dec 8, 1962 (div. 1988); children: Phillip (b. 1964); Penelope Mary Caldicott (b. 1965); William (b. 1967).

The brightest star in the anti-nuclear movement, brought about cessation of French atmospheric nuclear testing in the Pacific (1971–72); moved to US (1977), where she was a fellow in cystic fibrosis and an associate in medicine at Children's Hospital Medical Center and an instructor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School; published Nuclear Madness: What You Can Do (1978); resigned as pediatrician (1980); resurrected, and was national president of, Physicians for Social Responsibility (1978–83); founded Women's Party for Survival (WPFS, 1980) and Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND, 1980), an influential Washington-based lobby group; published Missile Envy (1984); nominated for Nobel Peace Prize (1986); returned to Australia (1986); founded Green Labor political faction within the Australian Labor Party (1988); ran (unsuccessfully) for Parliament (1990); published If You Love This Planet (1992). Won British Medical Association Prize for Clinical Medicine (1960) and prize for Surgical Anatomy (1961); received Margaret Mead award for defense of the environment, Gandhi Peace Prize, Thomas Merton Peace Prize, and Boston Ethical Society's Humanist of the Year (1980); UN Association for Australia Peace Medal Award (1985); her Physicians for Social Responsibility won the Nobel Peace Prize (1985); (with Bishop Desmond Tutu and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley) given John-Roger Foundation Integrity Award (1985); won Academy Award for best short documentary, If You Love This Planet (1983).

See also autobiography A Desperate Passion (1996); and Women in World History.