More than a century has passed since the birth of Dr Leonard Cox. His lifetime was one of quiet but extraordinary achievement, leading him to become an outstanding figure in neurological medicine in this country and a person of considerable influence upon the cultural development of Victoria. His was the good fortune to become associated with many notable personalities and his own contributions ever widened his contacts and experience. Leonard Cox was born at Prahran, Melbourne on 29 August 1894. His father, the Reverend Edward Thomas Cox, was an Anglican clergyman later translating to Methodism. His mother Isabella was the daughter of Henry Bell, a member of the Victorian MLA for West Ballarat.
Leonard Cox attended Wesley College forming a lasting friendship with his contemporary, Sir Robert Menzies. Graduating in medicine in 1916, and following a brief residency at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, he was commissioned as a medical officer in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Resuming his studies post war, he gained his MRCP (Edinburgh) in 1919, and returned to Australia to take up a position as Beaney Scholar in Pathology at the University of Melbourne. In 1920, he obtained his doctorate in medicine. It was shortly after his return to Australia that illness caused him to retire temporarily and he convalesced at a cottage his father had built at Olinda in 1912, and to which he was eventually to retire. There his neighbour was Sir Arthur Streeton, whose influence doubtless coloured Leonard Cox's already stimulated artistic leanings. In 1925, he married Nancy Trumble, his brother-in-law Hugh Trumble later becoming an integral part of his professional life. Then began the toil of establishing a consultant practice in neurology at a time of considerable economic difficulty. Many physicians at that time supplemented their income by giving anaesthetics, as did Cox. At the same time he continued to pursue his interest in neuropathology and research.
In 1934, he was appointed honorary neurologist to the Alfred Hospital and in the same year lecturer in neuropathology at the University. He was appointed Stewart Lecturer in 1937. Within a very short time he had prevailed upon the Alfred Hospital to permit the formation of the first department of neurology in Melbourne and by 1936, had encouraged his brother-in-law Hugh Trumble to devote his surgical skills to neurosurgery. The partnership thus formed was also the first of its kind in Melbourne.
During his years at the Alfred Hospital and at the Baker Research Institute, as well as the University, he made important contributions to neurological literature. His paper 'The cytology of the glioma group with special reference to the condition of cells derived from the invaded tissue' was published in the American Journal of Pathology in 1933, and remained a standard reference until modern times. A paper entitled 'Studies on the tissue culture of intracranial tumours' (in conjunction with Cranage) is of interest as in his usual generous manner he invited Sir Sydney Sunderland, then a fourth year medical student, to assist him in his research. Later, after graduating, Sunderland was invited to become assistant neurologist to Cox and also assistant neurosurgeon to Hugh Trumble. Another life long association was thus established.
Other papers of considerable importance included the monograph on 'Human Torulosis' written in conjunction with Jean Tolhurst and which remains a standard reference. The paper 'Tumours of the base of the brain: their relation to pathological sleep and other changes in the conscious state', published in the Medical Journal of Australia in 1937, preceded the work of others by a decade. His lectures to all students in the medical faculty were always fully attended and every student received a synopsis of each lecture. At the bedside his clinical skills and strength were very evident. He was a superb teacher possessing the gift of perceiving the problem from the history and his examination of the patient went straight to the point. There was no doubt in his mind that the basis of clinical medicine came from an understanding of pathology and anatomy.
For some time Leonard Cox had in his mind the possibility of linking together the neurologists of Australia in an association. Eventually a group of eight came together, including Graeme Robertson and Sydney Sunderland from Melbourne, Eric Susman and Kenneth Noad from Sydney, Gerald Moss of Perth, and the more recently returned from postgraduate studies overseas, John Game and John Billings, forming the foundation members of the Australian Association of Neurologists. The inaugural meeting took place in October 1950, Leonard Cox being elected president, a position he held until 1962.
Early in his life Leonard Cox became a collector, indeed his first purchase was in 1917, whilst stationed in Salisbury Plain as a captain in the AIF. It was a Battersea enamel box bought on a sudden impulse from a second hand dealer. A fellow officer, a collector of Chinese art, prompted visits to the British Museum containing oriental antiquities. The stimulus which subsequently dominated his collecting life had occurred. He continued collecting post war, having largely to rely upon objects brought into the country from one source or another, but was highly discriminating in his purchases. During this period he studied his subject in depth and typically set himself the task of learning Chinese characters to further his knowledge. In 1937, the collection of HW Kent, which had been assembled in Asia, was presented to the public and became the nucleus of the National Gallery of Victoria's department of oriental art. Later Leonard Cox succeeded Kent as honorary curator. Although Chinese art, and in particular Chinese ceramics, was his major delight, he had also acquired selected prints, etchings, Australian paintings, a collection of rare books, wood cuts by old and modern masters, and samples of English 18th and 19th century cabinet making. Nothing, however, surpassed his collection of Chinese ceramics, by which he had become internationally known and which was held to be the finest private collection in the country. In 1953, a research grant made possible a world trip in the course of which he made contact with many notable private collectors. He was a member of the Cultural Delegation to China and in the following year, 1956, led a medical delegation to China at the request of the Chinese Government.
At Olinda, the landscaped setting in which the family cottage had been built in 1912, was further developed by Edna Walling. Here, in his glasshouse, he propagated and cultivated rhododendrons and camellias, and collected rare species. His own garden was idyllic. After he had retired he assisted in the formation of the National Rhododendron Garden at Olinda, providing many specimens from his own garden.
To the wider public Leonard Cox will probably best be remembered for his work in assisting the establishment of the National Gallery Society of Victoria in 1948. He became president of the National Gallery Society in 1952, a trustee of the Gallery and chairman of the National Gallery and Cultural Centre committee in 1957. In 1958, he was appointed a member of the Felton Bequest committee. During the planning of the new Gallery he put in an immense amount of time and effort, even to the extent of partly withdrawing from medical practice to devote more time to detailed planning. Eventually he published a history of the Gallery in his monumental work 'The National Gallery of Victoria 1861 1968: a search for a collection'. In the foreword to this work Professor J Burke, Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Melbourne, remarked, 'Few of the great galleries of the world have been the object of such devoted labour'. For his contribution to the cultural growth in Australia and to the National Gallery of Victoria he was awarded the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1968. In August 1972, the Gallery invited him to mount a special exhibition of his own collection, the catalogue being titled 'Hundred Treasures'. Later the Felton Trustees purchased a blue and white stem cup and placed in the collection in his honour. Even in retirement he regularly attended meetings of the Gallery.
Leonard Cox was a driving force in so many enterprises, a great innovator, a leader in his profession and in the cultural life in the state yet a man of modesty, generosity and tolerance. It was considered a privilege to know him.