Caldicott, Helen Mary (1938- )

Helen Caldicott is an Australian-born physician, author, antinuclear activist, and founder of Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament and Physicians for Social Responsibility. Born Helen Broinowski in Melbourne, Victoria, she studied medicine and surgery at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 1961. The following year she manied William Caldicott. Alongside a promising medical career, Helen Caldicott soon developed a strong opposition to nuclear power and nuclear weapons. In 1972, she became active in the movement against French nuclear testing in the South Pacific, giving voice to longstanding concerns about the dangers of radioactive fallout that she had developed since reading Neville Shute's On The Beach (1957), a novel about the aftermath of a nuclear war set in Caldicott's hometown of Melbourne.