Naming of the wards and other significant areas
Thomas Fiaschi Day Surgery Unit
Dr Fiaschi travelled to Australia in 1875 from florence, Italy. He established a medical practice in Windsor and was surgeon to Hawkesbury Hospital and Benevolent Society between 1879 and 1883, pioneering modern surgery through Listerian antisepsis, thus dramatically improving the post-operative mortality rate. People came from all over the colony to avail themselves of his superior surgical skills.In 1882 he was President of the School of the Arts. In the same year he purchased 230 acres at Sackville Reach and established a vineyard, which covered 54 acres by 1889. In order to handle the vintage more efficiently, Dr Fiaschi built the Tizzana Winery in 1887. He was considered by many to be the father of the "modern" wine industry and an expert vigneron.
Dr Fiaschi moved his practice to Sydney in 1883. He was surgeon to Sydney Hospital (1894-1913) and honorary consulting surgeon (1913-1927). In March 1891, he became honorary surgeon captain in the NSW Lancers. He served with the Italian Army in Abyssinia in 1896. During the Boer War, he commanded the NSW 1st Field Hospital and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. He was honorary surgeon to the Governor-General from 1902-1909.
In 1915 Dr Fiaschi left Sydney for Lemnos, where he commanded the 3rd Australian General Hospital before being invalided to England in November with the illness beriberi. He temporarily resigned his commission in order to serve as a surgeon with the Italian Red Cross in a military hospital at Schio. He returned to Australia in October 1917 and joined the Australian Army Medical Corps Reserve, retiring in January 1921 as an honorary Brigadier-General.
Dr Fiaschi was President of the Australian Wine Producers Association from 1902-1927. In 1926 he acquired the original Mudgee Vineyard. All Chardonnay wine in Australia grown from Mudgee cuttings came from his original Tizzana plantings.
Dr Fiaschi pioneered work in Listerian surgery, anaesthesia, thoracic and cardiothoracic surgery, facio-maxillary surgery, the treatment of goitre, skin grafting, hydatid disease and bone surgery. He held influencial positions and took an active interest in areas such as medical education, art and literature, agriculture, language and professional groups associated with medicine and nursing.
Dr Thomas Fiaschi died of pneumonia in 1927 and is buried in the Waverley Cemetery, Sydney.
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This page was last modified on 2 February, 2007