Obituaries

Elizabeth Jeffreys, FAHA (since 1993), an outstanding Byzantinist, died at the age of 82 on 12 September 2023 following complications after a stroke in Oxford where she had been Bywater and Sotheby Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature and Fellow of Exeter College 1996-2006 (emerita in both cases since 2006). Previously she […]

Elizabeth Anne Webby (née Loder, 9 February 1942-6 August 2023) was born in Sydney to Betty [née Ellis) and George Loder. Her father enlisted in the RAAF in 1941, trained as a navigator, and was posted to 156 Pathfinder Squadron RAF based in Cambridgeshire. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in November 1943. The

Emeritus Professor Jack Golson, FAHA (13 September 1926 – 2 September 2023) was a true pioneer in the study of Pacific archaeology, whose legacy through teaching, mentoring and research is immense and ongoing. Jack was elected to the Academy in 1975. In 1954 Jack was appointed to the first full-time academic position in Australasia dedicated

From 2014, Ross Gibson was Centenary Professor of Creative and Cultural Research at the University of Canberra. He has also been Professor of Contemporary Arts at the University of Sydney (2008 – 2013) and Research Professor of New Media and Digital Culture at the University of Technology, Sydney (2002-2008).  Among otheracademic and public appointments he

It is significant that it takes three people to write this obituary as a document of Graeme’s diverse and productive life that takes in his brilliant and original scholarship in the area of Patristics (and Early Christianity), his excavation of the Hellenistic site of Jebel Khalid in Syria, and his support, in several capacities, of

Richard Perceval Davis (1935-2022), Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Tasmania, was a distinguished historian elected to the Academy of Humanities in 2007.  Educated at Campbell College, Belfast, Trinity College Dublin, and the University of Otago, he worked principally on Irish and Tasmanian history, with contributions, too, to the history of New Zealand

Colin Nettelbeck was Emeritus Professor of French Studies at the University of Melbourne, where he was Head of the School of Languages (2000-2005) and held the A.R. Chisholm Chair of French from 1994 until his retirement in 2005. Colin is remembered for his scholarship and teaching in French language and culture and his extensive experience

Angus Trumble was one of the most memorable writers on art that Australia has known. He has written theses, catalogues, articles, blogs, lectures, obituaries, and books, all seemingly effortlessly. During his far too short life, he was an art historian, curator, blogger, and museum director. Since his death, the notable outpouring of grief in church

  Shirley McKechnie (née Gorham) was born in Melbourne in 1926 and began dance lessons at the age of four and ballet lessons at 10. She trained extensively in the Bodenweiser technique and opened one of Australia’s first contemporary dance schools, the Beaumaris School of Modern Ballet, in 1955. In 1963, she founded the Contemporary

Emeritus Professor Michael Alexander Smith made pioneering contributions to our understandings of Australia’s human and environmental histories. He was a tenacious, collaborative, strategic, intelligent and deeply learned researcher. He produced more than 110 refereed journal articles, six edited books and monographs, a major report published on CD, three single authored books and a range of