Biography/Reference
Book Details

Australian Dictionary of Biography

1940–1980 Pik–Z

Volume 16

John Ritchie and Diane Langmore (eds)

The Australian Dictionary of Biography is THE classic Australian work of reference. Volume 16—the last of four volumes to deal with the period 1940–1980—is used by writers, scholars, researchers and many general readers.

About this Title

Volume 16 of the Australian Dictionary of Biography is the last of four volumes to deal with the period 1940–1980, recording the lives of Australians whom many of us remember from the recent past.

Maintaining the ADB's tradition of scholarship, Volume 16 reflects what changed and what remained constant in Australian society in the years of World War II and its aftermath.

Viscount Slim, Archbishop Geoffrey Sambell, Sir Arthur Rylah, Dame Ivy Wedgwood and ‘Eddie’ Ward, Sir John Storey and Sir Arthur Warner, Sir Thomas and Lady (Vera Deakin) White, Sir Sydney Rowell, Annie Sage, Rohan Rivett and ‘Chester’ Wilmot, Kenneth Slessor, Danila Vassilieff, Loudon Sainthill, Alison Rehfisch, Christian Waller, Edna Walling, Lorna Stirling and Robert Tudawali, Sir Frederick Shedden, Sir Frederick and Lady Schonell, Sir Samuel Wadham, Sir Stephen Roberts, Sir Grenfell Price, Camilla Wedgwood and Theodor Strehlow, Jessie Street, ‘Lance’ Sharkey, Kathleen Syme, Sir William Upjohn, Jean White-Haney and Julia Rapke, George Wallace junior, Oscar Seppelt and Jimmy Watson, Murray Beresford Roberts and Ronald Ryan: from governors-general, archbishops, politicians and military leaders to con-men and criminals, there are 673 lives (written by 569 authors) in this volume.

Like the pieces of a mosaic, a host of lives gives a picture of our society and provides insights into the experiences of our people. While biography necessarily focuses on the individual, a range of biographies illuminates large themes in Australia's recent history, themes such as immigration, accelerating industrialization, urbanization and suburbanization, war (World War II, Korea, Malaya and Vietnam), material progress, increasing cultural maturity, conservative and radical politics, conflict and harmony, and the loss of isolation and innocence. It also reveals something of the greatness and the littleness of which human beings are capable.

* * * * *

‘The scope and quality of the work make this a notable monument of Australian scholarship' Sir Paul Hasluck

‘stylistically and intellectually cohesive, quite remarkably comprehensive . . . A remarkable gift to the nation' Stephen Murray-Smith

‘Scholarly, detailed, indispensable, a crowning achievement' John McLaren, Australian Historical Studies

‘truly a national record and a suggestive piece of social history' Richard Davenport-Hines, Times Literary Supplement

Since 1962 the Australian Dictionary of Biography has been prepared by its staff in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University. It provides concise, informative and fascinating descriptions of prominent men and women of this country who contributed their vision and energies to a growing nation.

The subjects come from all walks of life—from premiers, generals and bishops, through artists, actors and authors, farmers, engineers and schoolteachers, to prostitutes, thieves and murderers—providing a cross-section of Australian society.

Volumes 1–12 (1788–1939) include 7211 biographies. The accompanying Index volume is a useful research tool in itself, listing the names of major and minor subjects as well as their occupations and places of birth. Volumes 13–15 include entries on 2018 people who died between 1940 and 1980.

This magnificent cumulative work, the ultimate source of Australian biography, continues to be a valuable reference for all libraries, large and small.

About the Author

Professor John Ritchie is general editor (since 1988) of the Australian Dictionary of Biography at the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. He taught Australian History at Monash University in 1964–65, and British and Australian History at the Faculty of Arts, ANU, from 1969 to 1987. He has published widely.

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978-0-522-84997-4