Dr Creston I Magasdi

Born in 1932 in Budapest, Creston Magasdi arrived in Australia in his late teens, not knowing a word of English. Within a few years, however, he was gaining distinctions in each year of his undergraduate course in medicine at the University of Adelaide, and eventually finishing in equal second place in his final year of studies. (He tied equal second with Dr Helen Broinowski, who later became the well-known as anti nuclear activist Dr Helen Caldecott.)

This remarkable achievement by the young migrant was published on the front page of The Advertiser.

Creston Magasdi arrived in Australia with his family in 1950. He began his new life in South Australia working at two jobs, one as a laboratory assistant at Faulding’s Pharmaceuticals and one as a weekend delivery boy, to fund his matriculation studies at night school.

He did so well in his exams that he was awarded an Australian Commonwealth Scholarship to study medicine.

During his university years, the proudly naturalised Australian joined the RAAF, beginning as a Cadet Officer, then Pilot Officer and a Flight Lieutenant, and eventually becoming a Flight Surgeon (Reserve) at Edinburgh RAAF Base. He was also an active member of the SA Squadron Sea Rescue Group.

In the early 1960s the young graduate worked as acting house surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, having won the Thomas Davis Scholarship Cleland Prize in Pathology. In the mid-1960s he went overseas to further his studies, working as a registrar in surgery and orthopaedics at St Mary’s Hospital, London.

He later joined the United States Air Force, based in Stuttgart, Germany, as a medical officer.

Returning to South Australia, Dr Magasdi established a busy GP practice at Para Hills, where he became a much-respected family doctor. He also held the role of senior clinical supervisor at the Lyell McEwin Hospital.

Always interested in legal matters, Dr Magasdi spent the final phase of his medical career as a well-known medico-legal consultant based in North Adelaide.

But Dr Magasdi’s many interests ranged considerably further than various aspects of medicine. He had a lifelong interest in all levels of politics, particularly the work of local government.

In 1995, he was elected as a Councillor of the City of Adelaide. This, he used to say, gave him both the privilege and the responsibility of ‘having a say in the future’ of his community.

As part of his various community responsibilities, Dr Magasdi sat upon a large number of boards and committees: the Australia Day Council, the Development Committee, the council’s Finance Committee, the Aquatic Centre Controlling Authority, the Economic Task Force, the Sister City Committee, the Traffic Management Board, the Motorsport Board, the Parklands Authority, the Central Market Authority, the Simpson & Donkey Memorial Foundation and the Murray Darling Commission.

He took on all his roles with characteristic energy and dedication, and after some years he was elected as Deputy Lord Mayor of Adelaide.

Both he and his late wife Mrs Ann Magasdi were strong supporters of the work of the Mary Potter Hospice. Other community organisations in which Dr Magasdi took an active part included his 14 years with the Rotary Club of Adelaide, 30 years with the Royal United Services Institute, and 57 years with the Australian Medical Association.

In January 2016 Dr Magasdi was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to local government and to the community.

As those who knew him recognise, Creston Magasdi was a formidable force who worked with characteristic enthusiasm, energy and dedication for the many organisations with which he was involved.

He came to Australia with virtually nothing, immediately set to work to educate himself, and over his long life achieved a great deal - personally, for his family, for his profession and for the South Australian community.

Dr Magasdi died on the Gold Coast on 1 June 2023. He is survived by his five children, nine of his 10 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.