Michael Gelfand, CBE,(December 1912 - July 1985) was a Zimbabwean colonial medical practitioner, who received a Papal Order of the Knighthood of St. Sylvester. Born in South Africa, Gelfand was noted for a humanistic approach to medicine and for his historical and ethnographic works. These played an important role in his re-examination of significant colonial prejudices he held about African peoples, culture, and religious practices.