NICHOLAS, George Richard

NICHOLAS, George Richard

1884-1960

pharmacist and philanthropist

born on 19 May 1884 at Majorca, Victoria

My name is George Nicholas and I represent ‘Advance Australia’ because I was the first person in Australia to discover how to make aspirin. During World War One we could no longer get supplies of aspirin from Germany, so I re-invented it and called it ‘Aspro’. Henry Woolfe Shmith helped me with business matters in the early years and my brother Alfred joined the company. Nicholas Pty Ltd became a very successful Australian company.

lamploop.gif (6239 bytes) IDEA FOR SCENE: The scene is a makeshift laboratory containing equipment made of kerosene tins and kitchen utensils. The year is 1915. George Nicholas is measuring and mixing white powder and a powerful-smelling liquid.

SAMPLE SCRIPT:

Nicholas: Blast! It’s so frustrating! I’ve made aspirin, but it’s still impure. I’ll just have to keep experimenting. (Noticing Smithy, Ginger and Felix.) Who are you?

1901-2001 Centenary of Federation