Anton Breinl

He was the son of Anton Breinl, lace manufacturer in Graslitz, Bohemia (now Kraslice in the Czech Republic) and his wife Leopoldine (née Stammhammer).

He was an exceptional medical scientist who had received awards for his contribution to tropical medicine, particularly for his work with Harold Wolferstan Thomas, on a cure for sleeping sickness.

While generally the medical profession hoped that the inaugural doctor would be Australian, Anton Breinl was appointed and arrived in Townsville on 1 January 1910.

[5] By 1911 Breinl was able to show the need for more staff and better premises when the Australian Government gave approval for expanded research into physiological and anthropological problems associated with white people living in the tropics.

Breinl had to assume the role of Medical Superintendent of the Townsville Hospital and Quarantine Officer while at the same time continuing his research at the Institute.

In early January 1916 Breinl resigned from the position of Quarantine Officer after becoming embroiled in a bitter public controversy over his Sudeten ancestry.

After the Institute was absorbed into the newly established Commonwealth Department of Health, Breinl was no longer able to lead the direction of research.