Dr Rita Stang - Infinite Women

Born: 1 June 1894, Australia
Died: 18 July 1978
Country most active: Australia
Also known as: Eleanor Margrethe Stang

This biography has been shared from The Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, published by the Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology, under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Rita Stang was medical officer of schools in the Western Australian Public Health Department from 1925, and supervisor of infant health in Western Australia from 1929, until her retirement in 1955. She worked to improve hygiene and children’s diets and put many measures into place to assist families in isolated areas with mothercraft.

Educated University of Melbourne (degree in medicine 1918), Diploma of Public Health 1927. Practised at Port Fairy and resident medical officer at Melbourne public hospitals, medical officer of schools in the Western Australian Public Health Department 1925-55, experience in London 1928, supervisor of infant health in Western Australia 1929-55, locum tenens and ship’s doctor in Victoria after her retirement in 1955. Introduced the Oslo Lunch, gave weekly radio talks and wrote press articles, and founded the Eleanor M. Stang Infant Health Centre in Perth. Examiner for the University of Western Australia and a lecturer in hygiene at the Teachers’ Training College, Claremont.