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Henry Stewart Biography of Henry Stewart: Scottish Catholic leader murdered cousin and 2nd husband of Mary Stuart 1565 father of James I of Britain ... Snorri Sturleson Biography of Snorri Sturleson: Icelandic historian, poet, and politician assassinated on orders of Haakon IV of Norway ... Richard Arkwright Snelling Biography of Richard Arkwright Snelling: US Republican politician governor of Vermont 1977- 1985, 1991 died of heart attack while in office ... Johan de Witt Biography of Johan de Witt: Dutch politician ... James Odell Smith Biography of James Odell Smith: US boxer WBA heavyweight boxing champion 1986 (1st college graduate to become heavyweight champion) ... David Nichol Smith Biography of David Nichol Smith: British literary critic ...
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Page 1: Famous Biologist

Henry Stewart

Biography of Henry Stewart: Scottish Catholic leader murdered cousin and 2nd husband of Mary Stuart 1565 father of

James I of Britain ...

Snorri Sturleson

Biography of Snorri Sturleson: Icelandic historian, poet, and politician assassinated on orders of Haakon IV of Norway ...

Richard Arkwright Snelling

Biography of Richard Arkwright Snelling: US Republican politician governor of Vermont 1977-1985, 1991 died of heart

attack while in office ...

Johan de Witt

Biography of Johan de Witt: Dutch politician ...

James Odell Smith

Biography of James Odell Smith: US boxer WBA heavyweight boxing champion 1986 (1st college graduate to

become heavyweight champion) ...

David Nichol Smith

Biography of David Nichol Smith: British literary critic ...

Page 2: Famous Biologist

Frank B Morrison

Biography of Frank B Morrison: US Democratic politician governor of Nebraska 1961-1967 ...

Gaspar de Zuniga y Azevedo

Biography Sir Donald Bradman

Sir Donald Bradman

Australia's greatest sporting legend is known simply as The Don. Sir Donald Bradman was barely 20

years old when he was selected for Australia's cricket team in 1928. Over the next two decades, he

averaged 99.94 runs every time he went to bat — 40 runs clear of any other player. Bradman was

voted the greatest Australian of all time in a recent national poll. Playing fields and songs have been

named in his honour. In every state, the postbox number for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation,

Australia's national broadcaster, is 9994 — a reference to Bradman's phenomenal run record.

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Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson

Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson (1864–1941)

Banjo Paterson was born in Narambla in New South Wales. He was a farmer and a lawyer who became

famous for his poetry. He later worked in the city as a newspaper/magazine editor, but disliked city

life. War He joined up as a soldier in WW1 and became an ambulance driver. Paterson wrote many

well-known Australian poems, including 'The Man from Snowy River', 'Clancy of the Overflow' and 'The

Man from Ironbark'. It may also be that he wrote the words to 'Waltzing Matilda'. His work has also

been recorded, broadcast on the radio and made into films and a television series. His picture is on the

$10 note and on stamps

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Dick Smith

Dick Smith (1944– )

Dick Smith was born in Sydney in 1944. He was always interested in the bush and in radio and left

school to work in an electronics firm. He started his own electronics business which became so

successful that he was able to retire in 1982 and do other things. In 1986 he started the Australian

Geographic magazine. He enjoys exploring remote places, flying, and helping people. 

Smith supports many charities. He is particularly interested in Life Education Centres and has tried to

stop the advertising of alcohol and cigarettes to young people. He encourages people to take care of

the environment and enjoy the Australian bush.

He was made Australian of the Year in 1986.

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Alfred Deakin

Alfred Deakin (1856–1919)

Alfred Deakin was born in Melbourne, Victoria. He was Australia's second prime minister. He believed

that governments should try new ideas and improve the lives of Australians. 

Deakin worked as a lawyer and a writer. He was elected to the Victorian Parliament in 1879 and 1880.

He introduced laws that improved conditions for workers in shops and factories.

Deakin believed that the Australian colonies should join together (federate) and become one nation.

He was a powerful speaker and gave many speeches in favour of Australia becoming one nation. He

was elected to the first Commonwealth Parliament and became the first attorney-general (the minister

in charge of laws and courts) in 1901. He became prime minister in 1903 when Edmund Barton

resigned.

While Deakin was prime minister, old age pensions were started and Canberra was selected as the

national capital. He was prime minister three times, his final term ending in 1910.

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A suburb of Canberra, an electorate (voting area) in Victoria and a stamp honour his work.

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Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II (1926– )

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the monarch of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Canada and Australia.

Elizabeth became queen in 1952 after her father, King George VI, died. 

As queen of both England and Australia Exlizabeth II is our Head of State. In Australia, the Queen is

represented by the governor-general. Today, the Queen is often seen at parades, at the opening of

Parliament and meeting the leaders of other countries.

The Queen's life is honoured on our banknotes and stamps, by a public holiday for her birthday and by

the naming of many public places after her. Statues and pictures of her are found in many government

buildings.

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Mandaway Yunupingu

Mandaway Yunupingu (1956– )

Mandaway Yunupingu was born in the Northern Territory in 1956. He was the first Aboriginal to

become a principal of a school in Australia, at Yirrkala in the Northern Territory. While he was principal,

he made sure that lessons with both Aboriginal and European ideas were included. 

In 1986 he began the band, Yothu Yindi. The band sang songs explaining the problems of Aboriginal

life. Yunupingu hopes that the music will improve life for Aboriginal people by improving the way other

Australians see them. He has worked hard to have Aboriginal people and other Australians work

together and to be more friendly towards each other.

In 1992, he was made Australian of the Year for his work in improving understanding between

Australians.

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Mary Seah

Mary Seah (1905– )

Mary Seah was known as the 'Angel of Changi'. Changi was a very bad prison camp in Singapore where

many Australians were kept during the Second World War. They were given little food or medicine and

Seah risked her life to help the prisoners-of-war for several years. She would go to the camp with her

son, dressed up as a street seller, and offer items for sale to the Japanese guards. When they were

busy looking at her goods, she would sneak food and medicine to the Australians. If she had been

caught, she would have been killed. When the guards became suspicious, she was beaten up, but she

told the guards nothing and kept on helping the Australians. Many of the men would have died without

her brave work. 

Mary Seah is highly respected by the returned soldiers and has been guest of honour at some of their

celebrations. She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1996.

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Shirley Smith ('Mum Shirl')

Shirley Smith ('Mum Shirl') (1921–1998)

Shirley Smith was an Aborigine who was born in Cowra, New South Wales. She was not able to go to an

ordinary school because she suffered from epilepsy and was taught at home by her grandfather. 

Shirley began to visit Aboriginal people in prison when one of her brothers was there and found other

people also enjoyed having someone to talk to. She also went to court sometimes to help people who

had been charged with a crime. People began to call her 'Mum Shirl'. Some of her time was spent

finding homes for children whose parents could not look after them or helping children to find their

own parents again.

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With some other people, she set up the Aboriginal Medical Service and the Aboriginal Legal Service to

give proper service to Aboriginal people who needed it. Shirley could not read or write, but could speak

16 different Aboriginal languages.

Her work was commemorated with an Order of Australia and an Order of the British Empire.

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Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson (1867–1922)

Henry Lawson is one of Australia's best known writers. He was the son of Louisa Lawson, who is

famous for working for women's rights. Henry often wrote about the hard lives of poor country people

in Australia. His own life was a hard one, starting with his birth in a bark hut with a dirt floor. The family

had very little money and Lawson's father was often away. Lawson's stories were very popular and

taught city people a lot about life in the country. Some people could not understand why he wrote

about such ordinary Australians but most people enjoyed the mixture of humour and sadness in his

stories. 

His life is honoured in street and park names in many places, including Sydney. The town of Lawson in

the Blue Mountains of New South Wales is named after him. His picture has also appeared on stamps.

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Sir Douglas Mawson

Sir Douglas Mawson (1882–1958)

Douglas Mawson was born in Bradford, England. He grew up in Australia and went on to study geology

(the science of rocks and how the earth was formed) at the University of Sydney. 

He is most famous for his trips of exploration to Antarctica between 1911 and 1914. It was hard to

raise the money for these journeys, but Mawson thought it was important to find out all about

Antarctica and for Australians to be involved with it. He was nearly killed on one of these trips, when

one of the men with him fell down a crevasse. The sled carrying most of the food fell with him. Mawson

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and another man called Mertz had to walk more than 500 kilometres back to base, eating their huskies

(dogs who pulled the sleds) to survive. Mertz died on the way and Mawson walked on alone. It took

weeks, but he finally reached the base and was saved.

He later became a professor at the Adelaide University. He was made Sir Douglas by the King in 1914.

His face appears on the $100 note and his picture has appeared on stamps. The first permanent

Antarctic station was named after him.

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John Flynn

John Flynn (1880–1951)

Reverend John Flynn was a minister of the church who worked as a missionary in outback South

Australia and was in charge of the Australian Inland Mission. The Mission's aim was to bring church

services and medical care to the people of outback Australia, many of whom lived far from towns. 

In the late 1920s, Flynn organised planes to bring doctors to sick people and the Royal Flying Doctor

Service was born. People in faraway places needed two-way radio to call the flying doctors. Flynn

suggested that they use a new invention called the pedal radio, which did not need batteries. This new

radio service lead to the beginning of the 'School of the Air'. John Flynn became known as 'Flynn of the

Inland'.

His work has been honoured on stamps. One of the Flying Doctor Service planes and an electorate

(voting area) in the Northern Territory are named after him. There is also a monument to him in Alice

Springs

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Caroline Chisholm

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Caroline Chisholm (1808–1877)

Caroline Chisholm was born in England. She arrived in Australia in 1838 and set up a home for other

women who had come to live here. She worked to improve life on the ships bringing people to

Australia to start a new life and started a loans plan to bring poor children and families to Australia.

She arranged free trips so that the families of convicts who were transported to Australia could come

to join them. She also believed poor people should be able to buy farms cheaply. 

Caroline Chisholm's work has been remembered in several ways. Her face has appeared on stamps

and on a bank note.

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Vida Goldstein

Vida Goldstein (1869–1949)

Vida Goldstein was born in Portland, Victoria. She believed that men and women should have equal

rights. She worked for the right of women to vote, called 'suffrage', and her parents encouraged her to

be strong and free. 

She started a magazine for women and spoke at a women's rights meeting in America. In 1902 women

were given the right to vote in federal elections in Australia.

In 1903 Goldstein was the first woman in the British Empire to try to become a member of a national

parliament. She stood for election to the Australian Commonwealth Parliament but did not win. She did

not give up but worked towards women's suffrage in Victorian state elections. Women in Victoria got

the vote in 1908.

During the First World War, Goldstein formed a group of people who worked for peace.

A special tree was planted in the grounds of the Victorian Parliament to honour her achievements and

an electorate (voting area) in Melbourne is named after her.

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Dame Mary Gilmore

Dame Mary Gilmore (1865–1962)

Mary Gilmore was born near Goulburn, New South Wales. She became a teacher and a writer and was

editor of the women's pages of the Australian Worker newspaper for 23 years. 

In 1886, Gilmore went to Paraguay in South America to join a group of Australians who planned to set

up a new colony where everyone would be equal and would work together. This colony was not

successful.

After some years, Gilmore came back to Australia with her husband. She spent the rest of her life

writing, doing her editing work and fighting for people who needed help. These included Aboriginal

people, children who were forced to work in factories and shearers who were being underpaid. She

also fought hard for women's rights.

In 1937 she was made Dame Mary Gilmore by King George VI. A suburb of Canberra is named after her

and her picture is on the $10 note and on stamps

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Edith Cowan

Edith Cowan (1861–1932)

Edith Cowan was born in Geraldton, Western Australia. She was the first woman member of an

Australian parliament. She was also a social worker and fought for women's rights. 

From an early age Cowan wanted to help people to improve their lives. She was a leader of many

groups that helped women and children.

In 1921 she was elected to the Western Australian Parliament. As a Member of the Legislative

Assembly she worked for migrants' welfare, infant health centres and women's rights. She introduced

laws that allowed women to become lawyers. Cowan lost her seat in parliament in 1924, but kept

helping people.

A university in Western Australia is named after her and her picture has appeared on stamps

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Edmund Barton

Edmund Barton (1849–1920)

Edmund Barton was born in Glebe, New South Wales and became Australia's first prime minister. He

was a very good student who was captain of his school and won many prizes at university. He worked

as a lawyer in Sydney and in 1879 became a member of the New South Wales Parliament. 

Barton believed that the Australian colonies should join together (federate) and become one nation

and he made many speeches to convince other people to support the idea. In 1901, when the

Australian states joined together (federated), Barton was asked to be the stand-in prime minister until

elections could be held. He was then elected as prime minister. In 1903 he left the Commonwealth

Parliament to become a High Court judge.

In Canberra, all of the older suburbs are named after prime ministers of Australia. One of the first

suburbs was named 'Barton'. He has also been commemorated on stamps.

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Gary (Angry) Anderson

Gary (Angry) Anderson (1947– )

Gary (Angry) Anderson was born in Melbourne, Victoria. He did not do very well at school and was

sometimes teased for being short. As he grew up he liked to be different and to shock people with

strange clothes and hairstyles. He worked in a factory, but then became famous as a rock singer with a

band called Rose Tattoo. 

In 1985, he was a television reporter informing people about the problems of kids who were

unemployed, homeless or ill. He later worked on another program which raised money for poor or sick

children, and farmers suffering from drought. He continues to work for dozens of groups that help

people in need in Australia and overseas.

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He has been given an Order of Australia medal, several other awards and was made an Australia Day

Ambassador.

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Dampier, William

[dam'pEr]

Dampier, William , 1651?–1715, English explorer and buccaneer. He fought (1673) in the Dutch War,

managed a plantation in Jamaica, then worked with logwood cutters in Honduras (1675–78). After

taking part in a buccaneering expedition against Spanish America (1679–81), he sailed from Virginia in

1683 on a piratical voyage along the coast of Africa, across the Atlantic, and around Cape Horn to prey

on Spanish cities on the west coast of South America. The party split up, and Dampier joined a group

that crossed to the Philippines. Dampier was marooned (probably voluntarily) on the Nicobar Islands.

After many hardships, he returned to England in 1691. He published an account of his experiences in A

New Voyage round the World (1697), supplemented by Voyages and Descriptions (1699), which

included Discourse of Trade-Winds, a masterly treatise on hydrography. Dampier was made a naval

officer and commanded an expedition (1699–1701) to Australia, New Guinea, and New Britain (which

he discovered to be an island and named). Other discoveries included Dampier Archipelago and

Dampier Strait. His vessel, the Roebuck, finally foundered off Ascension island. Dampier commanded

an unsuccessful privateering expedition (1703–7) in the course of which Alexander Selkirk was

voluntarily marooned. Dampier's account was published in his Voyage to New Holland (Part I, 1703;

Part II, 1709). Though an excellent hydrographer and navigator, he proved an incompetent

commander, guilty of drunkenness and overbearing conduct. He was pilot to Woodes Rogers on a

voyage around the world (1708–11). 

See editions of Dampier's writings by J. Masefield (1906) and Sir Albert Gray (1927, repr. 1968);

biographies by J. Shipman (1962) and C. Lloyd (1966).

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Sir Ian Clunies-Ross

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Sir Ian Clunies-Ross (1899–1959)

Ian Clunies-Ross was born in Bathurst, New South Wales. He was a scientist who worked with animals. 

He was a Professor of Veterinary Science at Sydney University and was the first chairman of the CSIRO

(Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). This organisation was set up by the

Commonwealth government. It has several sections that carry out experiments to help farmers find

better ways to grow things and look after the environment. Clunies-Ross worked to improve the sheep

and wool industry, conducting experiments to grow better wool and to help farmers protect the sheep

from disease.

Clunies-Ross has had an animal research laboratory near Sydney named after him and his face

appears on the $50 note. He was also knighted (made a 'Sir') by Queen Elizabeth II.

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Michael Waldock

Michael Waldock (birth date not known)

Michael Waldock was born in Bermagui in New South Wales. When he was only a teenager, he lost his

sight and became blind. 

He was given a CB radio for his sixteenth birthday and began working for the Australian Volunteer

Coastguard. This is a group of people who work for free in their spare time to help people who are in

trouble on the sea. Michael has worked for up to seven days a week, listening to radio signals from

boats and ships in danger. He has helped to arrange the rescue of more than 130 boats.

In 1983, Michael was made Young Australian of the Year.

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Sir Douglas Nicholls

Sir Douglas Nicholls (1906–1988)

Douglas Nicholls was born in Cumeroogunga, near the Murray River in New South Wales, and was

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Australia's first Aboriginal state governor. He was excellent at sport and played football for Fitzroy and

Victoria. He was just as good at running and boxing. His great uncle, William Cooper, was an important

Aboriginal leader. 

Nicholls was a social worker and a minister of the Church of Christ who worked for the rights of

Aboriginal people. He spent a lot of his life working for groups that helped Aboriginal people, including

the National Aboriginal Sports Foundation and the Aborigines' League of Advancement in Victoria. He

was awarded two medals by Queen Elizabeth II and was made Sir Douglas Nicholls in 1972 because of

his work for Aboriginal Australians. He was made Governor of South Australia in 1976. He had only held

office for a few months when he became too sick to work. He died in 1988 after suffering a stroke.

A suburb in Canberra and a sports field in Melbourne are named after him.

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Louisa Lawson

Louisa Lawson (1848–1920)

Louisa Lawson was born near Mudgee in New South Wales. She was a clever and thoughtful girl who

married at 18 and moved to a bark hut on the goldfields with her husband. Her life there was hard and

lonely. Her husband was often away, leaving Louisa alone to bring up their small children on very little

money. One of her children was the famous writer Henry Lawson. In 1883, she left her husband and

moved to Sydney. 

Louisa spent the rest of her life working to help other women. She ran groups to improve their health

and the way they lived. She always encouraged them to help themselves. She published a magazine to

give women information, called The Dawn, which lasted 17 years. Lawson only employed women on

the magazine and many male publishers did not like this. She also fought all her life for women to be

given the right to vote.

Her life is remembered on stamps.

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Anne Geddes

Anne Geddes' work is very well known, both in Australia and Internationally. Her pictures of babies in

various situations and poses have endeared her to the critics and buying public alike. Anne is

launching a new clothing range, it can be found onsite: Anne Geddes

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Sir Henry Parkes

Sir Henry Parkes (1816–1896)

Henry Parkes was a politician and was premier of New South Wales five times. Born in England, Parkes

had little schooling. He arrived in Australia in 1839, went into business and started a newspaper. He

was interested in politics and wanted changes in the way New South Wales was governed. He was

elected to the New South Wales Parliament in 1854 and helped introduce laws which improved

hospitals and prisons and the lives of small farmers. Parkes began the first of his five terms as premier

in 1872. 

From the 1860s on, Parkes talked to people about the states joining together (federating). He was

president of a convention (meeting) in 1891 to plan a constitution (set of rules) for a federated

Australia. While this plan was not chosen, it was used later as a model for the final version. Parkes has

been called 'The father of Australian federation'.

The town of Parkes in New South Wales is named after him and his picture appears on stamps.

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Bob Hawke

Hawke, Bob (Robert James Lee Hawke), 1929–, Australian statesman. A Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, he

gained a reputation as a skillful labor mediator during his tenure at the Australian Council of Trade

Unions, of which he eventually became president. He served as national president of the Labor party

(1973–78) before being elected to Parliament in 1980. He became party leader in 1983 and following

his party's electoral victory later that year won the first of three successive terms as prime minister.

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He sought to decrease Australia's dependence on the export of raw materials and make the nation

more competitive internationally in manufactured goods. In Dec., 1991, Hawke lost a party leadership

fight and a new Labor government was formed with Paul Keating as prime minister.

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Sir Charles Kingsford Smith

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (1897–1935)

Charles Kingsford Smith was born in Hamilton in Brisbane. When he was only 18, he joined up as a

soldier in the First World War and later became a pilot. He was a very brave man who won the Military

Cross. 

He had lots of adventures in his life. He made record breaking flights, around Australia, across the

Pacific, to England and around the world. These flights were very dangerous because planes in those

days kept breaking down and he was often in danger of being killed.

Kingsford Smith set up the first Australian airline. In 1935, he was trying to raise money when he

disappeared while flying over the Bay of Bengal near India. He was never seen again.

He is remembered in many ways. He was made Sir Charles by King George VI. The airport in Sydney

and a street in Brisbane are named after him. A building at Brisbane Airport holds one of his planes,

the Southern Cross. His face appears on the $20 note and his picture also appears on stamps.

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Dame Enid Lyons

Dame Enid Lyons (1897–1981)

Enid Lyons was born in Tasmania and trained as a teacher in Hobart. Her mother introduced her to an

important Tasmanian politician, Joseph Lyons, who later became the Premier of Tasmania. They were

soon married. 

Lyons was interested in her husband's work and stood for election to the Tasmanian Parliament in

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1925. She nearly won. She was a good public speaker and helped to get people to vote for her

husband. He became prime minister in 1931. After her husband's death, Lyons decided to stand for

parliament again. In 1943 she became the first woman elected to the Commonwealth Parliament. She

later became the first woman in federal Cabinet.

Lyons worked hard in Parliament for women and children. She believed that men and women should

be completely equal. In those days women often stayed at home. If they did go out to work, they

earned less. Lyons brought in welfare payments for mothers and equal training allowances for women

and men.

She was made Dame Enid by the King in 1943 and Dame Enid of Australia in 1980. Her picture has also

appeared on stamps.

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Tan Le

Tan Le (1978– )

Tan Le was born in Vietnam in 1978. Because of the war in her country, her family escaped to Australia

when she was four years old. She was so clever and hard working at school that she went to university

when she was only 16. 

Since then, Le has worked very hard to help Vietnamese people in Melbourne, Victoria. She became

the president of a group that works with immigrants and helps them find jobs. It also tries to help with

other problems Vietnamese-Australians might have. Le has raised money for a number of poor people

in Melbourne's West. She has also recorded tapes of Vietnamese newspapers for the Victorian

Association of the Blind. She is now working to help people do business with Asian countries.

In 1998, she was named Young Australian of the Year and a television program has been made about

her life.

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Lachlan Macquarie

Lachlan Macquarie (1762–1824)

Lachlan Macquarie was the governor of the colony of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. He had

many buildings, roads and bridges constructed and began the first proper town planning in New South

Wales. He also treated ex-convicts like everyone else. Many free settlers did not like this. They

complained to the government in Britain about Macquarie. He, in turn, complained about them.

Although he worked hard and was good at his job, he did not like criticism. 

After Macquarie had been the governor for more than 10 years, the British Government appointed a

judge called Bigge to report on the way the colony was run. Bigge reported that Macquarie had made

mistakes in the way he ran things. Macquarie was disappointed by this and later returned to England.

There are many places in New South Wales named after Macquarie, including a river, streets and a

lake. His picture has also appeared on stamps.

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Stanislawa Dabrowski

Stanislawa Dabrowski (1926– )

Stanislawa Dabrowski (say Stan-is-la-va Da-brov-ski) was born in Poland. She has spent the last 13

years helping poor and homeless people in Canberra. During the week, she uses her own money to

make lots of soup and collects leftover bread and cakes from local bakeries. Every Friday night, she

takes all the food into the centre of Canberra and gives it out to people who have no money or no

homes to go to. About 500 people usually turn up each Friday night for her food. In her spare time, she

visits people in jail who have no one else to visit them. 

In 1996, the government of the Australian Capital Territory named her Citizen of the Year and gave her

$9,000 to help with the cost of the cooking. She was given a medal of the Order of Australia in 1998.

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Truganini

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Truganini (about 1803–1876) 

Truganini was an Aboriginal woman who was born on Bruni Island in Tasmania. She worked with her

husband, Woorrady, to help the Protector of Aborigines, George Robinson, move Aboriginal people

from the mainland to settle on Flinders Island. She is said to have saved Robinson's life by helping him

escape an attack by floating him across a river on a log. 

She travelled to Port Phillip (now known as Melbourne, Victoria) with Robinson and his wife but

returned to Flinders Island to move with her people to Oyster Cove on the mainland. This settlement

was not successful and most of the people died.

Truganini became known as the last Tasmanian Aborigine but this is not true. At the end of her life

Truganini lived in Hobart and was very well known. She died in 1876.

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Lowjita (Lois) O'Donoghue

Lowjita (Lois) O'Donoghue (1932– )

Lowjita O'Donoghue is an Aboriginal woman who was born in South Australia in 1932. She was taken

away from her family and grew up in a children's home. She was trained to do housework, but later

spent a long time fighting to be allowed to train as a nurse. 

In 1967, she joined the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and became the director of the South

Australian region in 1975. Since then she has held several jobs working for the good of Aboriginal

people and Torres Strait Islander people. She has helped to write laws and been the head of ATSIC

(Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission).

O'Donoghue was named Australian of the Year in 1984 for her work to improve the way Aboriginal

people and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians live and work togther. She has been

given awards by Queen Elizabeth II and the Australian Government.

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Stepan Kerkyasharian

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Stepan Kerkyasharian (1943– )

Stepan Kerkyasharian (say Kir-kia-share-ian) was born on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus in 1943

of Armenian parentage. He has spent most of his adult life working for the benefit of people who have

come to live in Australia from overseas. He was the head of SBS radio from 1980 to 1989. He then

became the head of a New South Wales statutory body called the Ethnic Affairs Commission. This

agency works to help people from overseas settle into their new lives and be treated fairly, and

provides access and opportunities for their participation in the life of the State of New South Wales. 

Stepan Kerkyasharian was made a member of the Order of Australia in 1992 and a Fellow of the

University of Technology Sydney in 1995.

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Eve Mahlab

Eve Mahlab (1937– )

Eve Mahlab was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1937. She trained as a lawyer and later, after working as a

lawyer, became a very good businesswoman. 

In the 1970s, she worked hard for women's rights and also set up a group to teach young people about

working in a business. Since then, she has been a leader in government and community groups which

have helped many other women have success in business as well.

Her work has been recognised in several ways. She was made Businesswoman of the Year in 1982. A

book has been written and several television programs have been made about her. In 1998 she was

awarded an Order of Australia for her work in government, business and the community. She was also

made a Doctor of Law at Monash University in Melbourne.

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Lawrence Hargrave

Lawrence Hargrave (1850–1915)

Lawrence Hargrave was born in Greenwich, England, and came to Australia in 1883. He had a

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comfortable life and made enough money to be able to spend his time doing experiments and

inventing things. 

In 1894, he became the first man in Australia to fly — at Stanwell Park in New South Wales. He made

four box kites and joined a seat to them. With the help of the wind, he was able to float 5 metres

above the ground on the end of a length of wire. He also invented a type of aeroplane engine and an

aeroplane with flapping wings. He did not want to make money from any of his ideas and was happy to

share them with everyone. He died of blood-poisoning in 1915.

Hargrave's face is on the $20 note, there are places named after him and a memorial to him has been

built at Stanwell Park.

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Sister Scholastica

Sister Scholastica (Josephine) Carillo (1917– )

Sister Scholastica is a Benedictine nun who works in Western Australia on an Aboriginal mission station

called Kalumburu. It is one of the most remote places in Australia. It is hard to reach and living there is

often very difficult. 

Sister Scholastica was born in Spain in 1917 and came to Australia in 1949. She has spent most of her

adult life helping Aboriginal people in many ways. She has helped with their education, job training and

health, and been a friend when they needed someone to talk to. She has also taught Aboriginal people

about the Christian religion. Sister Scholastica uses a motorbike to visit people in the most remote

places. When the Benedictines decided to leave Kalumburu, she stayed on to help the people she had

lived with for so long.

She was given a medal of the Order of Australia in 1994.

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Adam Lindsay Gordon

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Gordon, Adam Lindsay, 1833–70, Australian poet, b. the Azores. In 1853 he went to South Australia,

where he joined the mounted police and later became famous as a steeplechase rider and horse

owner. His works include Sea Spray and Smoke Drift (1867), Ashtaroth (1867), and the vigorous Bush

Ballads and Galloping Rhymes (1870). Depressed by debts, he committed suicide at 36. His collected

poems were published in 1912.

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Sir Garfield Barwick

Sir Garfield Barwick (1903–1997)

Garfield Barwick was born in Sydney. His family was not rich or important, but he was a very good

student and won many book prizes for his work. He later became a lawyer and a member of the

Commonwealth Parliament. While in parliament he was made Attorney-General (the chief lawyer for

the government). After leaving parliament he was apponted the chief judge of the High Court. 

Barwick helped to write and decide on many important laws in Australia. He was very well known for

his work in Australian politics.

In 1953, he was made Sir Garfield by Queen Elizabeth II. He was also given an Order of Australia

medal.

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John Tebbutt

John Tebbutt (1834–1916)

John Tebbutt was born in Windsor in New South Wales. He grew up on his father's property where he

enjoyed astronomy (studying the stars and other objects in the sky). He began recording their

positions and movements when he was 19 and built an observatory to study them. Because he passed

on his knowledge to others, he helped to build up information about astronomy. 

He became a famous Australian astronomer and was later the president of the Astronomical Society in

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Sydney. In 1861, Tebbutt discovered a comet which was named after him. Twenty years later he found

another comet. He wrote more than 350 articles about astronomy in scientific magazines.

His face appears on the $100 note and an observatory near Sydney is named after him.

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Thomas Keneally

Keneally, Thomas , 1935–, Australian novelist, b. Sydney. For a time a student of religion, and later of

law, Keneally has ranged over a wide spectrum in his many novels, including the American Civil War,

Nazi Germany, and rugby. Keneally insists that he must try to re-create the experience of his subjects;

thus the authentic flavor of works such as Schindler's Ark (1982, published in the United States as

Schindler's List), the novelistic treatment of a businessman who saved the lives of many Jews during

the Holocaust, probably his best-known work. His other novels include A Family Madness (1985), To

Asmara (1989), Flying Hero Class (1991), Woman of the Inner Sea (1993), and A River Town (1995).

The Great Shame (1999), a nonfiction work, explores the fates of 19th-century Irishmen forced to

emigrate to Australia.

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Gladys Moncrieff

Gladys Moncrieff (1892–1976)

Gladys Moncrieff was born in Queensland. As a child, she toured the state giving concerts and was

advertised as 'Little Gladys ? the Australian Wonder Child'. She became more and more well known as

a singer and was very popular. In 1921 she had a big success playing Theresa in a musical called Maid

of the Mountain at the Theatre Royal in Melbourne. She sang the part nearly 3000 times. She also sang

in England and New Zealand. People in Australia were pleased to have a singer from their own country

as a star. Moncrieff became known as 'Australia's Queen of Song' and then 'Our Glad'. 

Moncrieff made records and films and appeared on television shows. Her life has been remembered on

stamps.

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Deakin, Alfred

Deakin, Alfred [dE'kin]

Deakin, Alfred , 1856–1919, Australian political leader. He held office in various ministries and aided in

the fight for federation of the Australian states. He accomplished a great deal in social legislation,

irrigation, defense, and preferential tariffs. At first attorney general of Australia (1901), he later was

prime minister in three different fusion governments (1903–4, 1905–8, 1909–10).

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Judith Wright

Wright, Judith, 1915–, Australian poet. After graduating from the Univ. of Sydney, she worked variously

as a clerk, secretary, and statistician. She is regarded as one of the most important Australian writers

of the 20th cent. Her lyric poetry is marked by sensitivity of interpretation and absolute mastery of

technique. Among her volumes of poetry are The Moving Image (1946), The Gateway (1953), City

Sunrise (1964), and Collected Poems, 1942–1970 (1971). She has also published books for children;

biographies of the Australian writers Charles Harpur and Charles Lawson; and the critical work,

Preoccupations in Australian Poetry (1965).

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Brown, Robert

Brown, Robert, 1773–1858, Scottish botanist and botanical explorer. In 1801 he went as a naturalist on

one of Matthew Flinders's expeditions to Australia, returning (1805) to England with valuable

collections. In his Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen (1810) he described

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Australian flora. A leading botanist of his day, he served as librarian to the Linnaean Society and to Sir

Joseph Banks and later as curator at the British Museum. He observed Brownian movement in 1827,

discovered the cell nucleus in 1831, and was the first to recognize gymnosperm as a distinct

angiosperm. His studies of several plant families and of pollen were also notable.

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Albert Namatjira

Albert Namatjira is the most celebrated Aboriginal artist.

See his story and his work here: Albert Namatjira

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Sir Isaac Isaacs

Sir Isaac Isaacs (1885–1948)

Isaac Isaacs was born in Melbourne, Victoria. He was the first Australian-born governor-general. He was

an excellent lawyer, a judge, a Member of Parliament in Victoria and a very clever speaker. 

Isaacs worked towards the joining together (federation) of the Australian states and was elected to the

Commonwealth Parliament. He wrote laws for the state and Commonwealth governments and he was

made a judge of the High Court in 1906. In 1930, he became the chief judge of the High Court and in

1931, governor-general. Many people did not like the appointment of an Australian as governor-

general. They said it was against tradition. The King did not want an Australian either, but eventually

agreed to it. Isaacs was governor-general until 1936. He was knighted (made a 'Sir') by the king.

A painting of Sir Isaac Isaacs hangs in Parliament House, Canberra. A suburb of Canberra is named

after him and his face is on a stamp.

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Nevil Shute

Shute, Nevil (Nevil Shute Norway), 1899–1960, English novelist, b. Ealing, Middlesex, grad. Oxford,

1922. After serving in World War I, he was manager of a construction company until 1938. He fought

also in World War II and emigrated to Australia in 1950. Shute wrote 26 novels and was one the best-

selling novelists of his era. His fast-paced novels usually illustrate moral themes. They include Ordeal

(1939), The Pied Piper (1944), On the Beach (1957), and Trustee from the Toolroom (1960).

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Charles La Trobe

Charles La Trobe (1801–1875)

Charles La Trobe was born in England was put in charge of the settlement of Port Phillip (now

Melbourne, Victoria) by the British Government in 1839. In 1851, when the settlement was made into a

colony with its own government, La Trobe became the first lieutenant-governor. At that time, gold was

discovered in Victoria and many people rushed off to the goldfields, hoping they would become rich.

This made it hard to get normal work done in the towns, which created great problems for La Trobe.

During his time as lieutenant-governor of Victoria, La Trobe set aside large areas around Melbourne for

parks. 

La Trobe University in Victoria and the La Trobe Library of the State Library of Victoria are named after

him. His picture also appears on stamps.

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Stead, Christina

Stead, Christina, 1902–83, Australian novelist, b. Rockdale, New South Wales. She worked in the

United States in the 1940s, emigrated to England in 1953, then returned to Australia in 1974. Her

novels, written in the distinctive language of the interior monologist, treat the problem of evil,

particularly the destruction wrought by human obsessions. In addition to The Man Who Loved Children

(1940), her masterpiece, her novels include Seven Poor Men of Sydney (1934), the autobiographical

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For Love Alone (1944), A Little Tea, A Little Chat (1948), The Little Hotel (1975) Miss Herbert (The

Suburban Wife) (1976), and the posthumous I'm Dying Laughing (1987). Stead also wrote novellas,

short stories, and essays. 

See Christina Stead: A Biography (1994) by H. Rowley; studies by J. Lidoff (1982), D. Brydon (1987),

and S. Sheridan (1988).

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Anne Geddes/ Bio

Born and raised in Queensland, Australia, Anne Geddes has always been interested in the strength that

a photographic image could hold. One of the world's most respected and successful professional

photographers, Anne first captured the imagination and hearts of people ten years ago. Released

initially in New Zealand and Australia, today, her distinctive, award-winning images of babies have

become classic icons celebrating life and birth. They grace greeting cards, calendars, books,

stationery, photo albums, and an array of other fine products.

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John Curtin

John Curtin, 1885–1945, Australian political leader. A labor union secretary, he edited (1917–28) a

labor weekly and was later a member of the lower house—from 1928 to 1941, except for three years.

He became Labour party leader. As wartime prime minister (1941–45), he vigorously organized the

defense of Australia in World War II, working closely with the United States; he also helped plan closer

cooperation within the Commonwealth of Nations. He died in office.

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Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth

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Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth, 1858–1935, Australian geologist and explorer, b. near Cardiff, Wales.

David came to Australia in 1882 as an assistant geological surveyor. In 1891 he was appointed

professor of geology and physical geography at the Univ. of Sydney. He was part of the Shackleton

expedition to Antarctica (1907–9), in the course of which Mt. Erebus was ascended, the south magnetic

pole was located, and the polar plateau was crossed to a point less than 100 mi (160 km) from the

South Pole. He was knighted in 1920. His works include Geographical Notes of the British Antarctic

Expedition (1909) and The Geology of Australia (1932).

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Paul Keating

Keating, Paul, 1944–, Australian politician. A trade-union official and member of the Labor party, he

was first elected to parliament in 1969. As federal treasurer (treasury minister) from 1983 to 1991 and

deputy prime minister under Prime Minister Bob Hawke from 1990 to 1991, he advocated free-market

economic policies designed to spur growth. In mid-1991 Keating challenged Hawke for party

leadership; he lost and resigned his posts. A continuing recession eroded support for Hawke, however,

and Keating replaced him at the end of 1991. In 1993 he led Labor to another electoral victory. 

As prime minister, Keating moved to deregulate the financial markets and privatize government

businesses, including the national airline. He emphasized Australia's ties with Asia and the importance

of competing in a global economy. Keating also advocated Australia's withdrawal from even nominal

British rule and its adoption of a purely republican mode of government. Although he initiated a

number of successful free-market reforms, ongoing economic problems undid his administration. In the

elections of 1996 Labor was defeated by a Liberal-National coalition led by John Howard. Keating

stepped down as Labor party leader and then resigned his seat in parliament, ending a 27-year career

in politics.

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Robert O'Hara Burke

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Robert O'Hara Burke, 1820–61, Irish explorer of Australia. After service in the Belgian and Austrian

armies he went (1853) as inspector of police to Melbourne. In 1860, with W. J. Wills and eight other

whites, he left Menindee, on the Darling River, to cross the continent. Dissensions broke up the party,

but the leaders reached the estuary of the Flinders River, in the Gulf of Carpentaria. On the return

journey both Burke and Wills died from famine and exposure. Although the geographical achievements

of the expedition itself were few, rescue parties seeking it added much to the knowledge of central

Australia. 

See C. G. D. Roberts, Discoveries and Explorations in the Century (1906); M. Colwell, The Journey of

Burke and Wills (1971).

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John Winston Howard

Howard, John Winston, 1939–, Australian political leader, prime minister (1996–). A graduate of Sydney

Univ., a conservative lawyer, and a member of the Liberal party, he was elected to parliament in 1974

and served as minister for business and consumer affairs (1975–77) and treasurer (1977–83) in the

government of Malcolm Fraser. As head of the party (1985–89; 1995–), he has been a major Liberal

advocate of economic deregulation, smaller government, and other free-market reforms. He became

prime minister in 1996, leading a Liberal-National party coalition and promising sweeping economic

and labor reforms. He retained power with a reduced majority after the Oct., 1998, elections. He

strongly supported retention of the British monarch as head of state in the 1999 referendum.

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John Gould

John Gould (1804–1881)

John Gould was born in England and visited Hobart in 1838 with his family. He was very interested in

the study of birds and published a book called Birds of Australia. He published 13 other books about

Australian birds and other animals after he returned to England in 1840. His wife, Elizabeth, was a very

good artist and drew very beautiful and careful pictures of the Australian birds in the books for him. 

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The Gould League, a society for people who are interested in birds, was named after him. It raises

funds and publish books and pictures about birds. They try to protect all the types of native birds in

Australia. John Gould's work is also honoured by his picture on a stamp.

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Archbishop Peter Hollingworth

Archbishop Peter Hollingworth (1935– )

Archbishop Peter Hollingworth was born in 1935. He became a priest and tried to encourage the

church to do more to improve people's lives. He trained as a social worker as well and took a job with

the Brotherhood of St Lawrence. This is a group that helps people who are in trouble or in need. 

Hollingworth believes that poor people should have more control over their own lives and that people

should respect different ideas and ways of life from their own. He has also worked to help Aboriginal

people and young people who have no jobs. His ideas have caused some arguments with other people

in the church, but he was made an archbishop in 1990.

In 1991 he was made Australian of the Year.

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Thomas Alexander Browne

Browne, Thomas Alexander, pseud. Rolf Boldrewood , 1826–1915, Australian author. A squatter, a

magistrate, and a commissioner in the gold fields, he wrote many books of life in Australia, such as

Robbery under Arms (1888) and Ghost Camp (1902).

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William Charles Wentworth

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Wentworth, William Charles, 1793?–1872, Australian statesman. His exploration (1813) of the Blue Mts.

in Australia revealed vast pasturelands in the western part of the continent. In 1816 he went to Great

Britain to study law; while there he published (1819) a description of Australia. He returned (1824) to

Australia, where he set up a lucrative law practice, championed the cause of the “emancipists”

(liberated convicts), and founded (1824) a newspaper, the Australian, to promulgate his views on

Australian self-government. Wentworth took a prominent part in the legislative council of New South

Wales, formed in 1842, and was the leading figure in the fight for the constitution of 1855. In 1849 he

put through the bill for the founding of the Univ. of Sydney. After 1857 he resided mainly in England.

He wrote Australasia (1823), a poem about his native country.

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Steve Vizard

Steve Vizard (1956– )

Steve Vizard was born in Melbourne in 1956 where he studied arts and law at Melbourne University. He

worked as a lawyer in Australia and overseas for ten years before moving into film and television.

He set up and led Artist Services, an award-winning production house which has made television

programs such as `Fast Forward', `Full Frontal' and `Seachange'. He was the President of the Screen

Producers Guild and a Director of Film Australia and the Australian Children's Television Foundation. He

is the President of the Council of Trustees for the National Gallery of Victoria.

In 1991 he started the Vizard Foundation, which provides money and assistance for the arts, education

and people in need. He has been a Director and Patron for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, World Vision,

the Alannah and Madeline Foundation and the Addiction Research Foundation among others.

In 1998, Steve was an elected delegate from Victoria to the Constitutional Convention. He wrote a

book about the convention called Two Weeks in Lilliput.

Steve Vizard was awarded an Order of Australia in 1997 as well as the Melvin Jones Fellowship for

community work.

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White, Patrick, 1912–90, Australian novelist

White, Patrick, 1912–90, Australian novelist, b. London. Raised in England, he returned to Australia

after World War II, earning his living by farming and writing. His novels—often set in the Australian

outback—usually portray the suffering of extraordinary people. His style relies heavily on description.

His novels include The Happy Valley (1939), The Aunt's Story (1948), The Tree of Man (1955), Riders in

the Chariot (1961), The Vivisector (1970), The Eye of the Storm (1974), The Twyborn Affair (1980), and

Memoirs of Many in One by Xenophon Demirjian Gray (1986). The Cockatoos (1975) is a collection of

short stories. In 1973, White was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. 

See his autobiography Flaws in the Glass (1981); biography by D. Marr (1992); studies by G. Laigle

(1989), L. Steven (1989), and P. Wolfe (1990).

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Ethel Richardson Robertson

Richardson, Henry Handel, pseud. of Ethel Richardson Robertson,1870–1946, Australian novelist, b.

Melbourne. Her years of study at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne, were reflected in her

book The Getting of Wisdom (1910). After studying piano at Leipzig she turned to writing, living mainly

in Germany until 1903 and then in England. Her first novel, Maurice Guest (1908), is the story of a

music student's disastrous infatuation. The trilogy The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (1930), which

presents an accurate and outstanding picture of Australian life, is considered her major work. Her

writing, clear and austere in style, has been characterized as combining romantic insights with

scientific attention to detail. 

See her autobiographical fragment, Myself When Young (1948); study by D. Green (1973)

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West, Morris, 1916–, Australian novelist

West, Morris, 1916–, Australian novelist, b. Melbourne. West's novels often reveal his interest in both

Roman Catholicism and international politics, as reflected in his best-selling novel, The Shoes of the

Fisherman (1963), which concerns a Soviet cardinal who is named pope during an international crisis.

His other novels include The Devil's Advocate (1959), Harlequin (1974), The Clowns of God (1981), The

World Is Made of Glass (1983), and Cassidy (1986).

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Robert Tudawali

Robert Tudawali (1930–1967)

Robert Tudawali was born on Melville Island in the Northern Territory. He worked for both the air force

and the army during the Second World War. After the War he became the world's first Aboriginal film

star. He had one of the main roles in the film Jedda, which was first shown in Darwin in 1955. He then

starred in the movie Dust in the Sun and in many television films in the 1960s. He found it very hard to

return to the life of an ordinary person after having been a star. Later he became ill with a disease of

the lungs. He died in an accident in Darwin in 1967. 

A street is named after him and a film was made about his life in 1987.

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of Gaspar de Zuniga y Azevedo: Spanish colonial administrator viceroy of Mexico 1595-1603 ...