| Creator: |
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| Date of birth: |
1905 |
| Date of death: |
1990 |
| Biography: |
Kathleen Fitzpatrick, nee Pitt, was born on 7 September 1905 in Omeo, Victoria. She attended Melbourne University, graduating with honours in Arts in 1926. She then went to Oxford where she completed another under- graduate degree. Returning to Australia she briefly found employment at Sydney University before becoming a tutor in the University of Melbourne's English department in 1930, a position she was forced to resign upon her marriage to then journalist, Brian Fitzpatrick, in 1932. Following the failure of the marriage a couple of years later, she taught shorthand and typing for several years before being appointed lecturer in the University's History Department in 1938. She remained there until her retirement in 1962, becoming Associate Professor in 1948. Renowned for her inspirational teaching, she exerted a powerful influence over several generations of historians. Her best known publications are 'Sir John Franklin in Tasmania' (1949), 'Australian Explorers' (1953) and the highly-acclaimed 'Solid Bluestone Foundations' in 1983. A foundation member of the Australian Humanities Research Council and Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities, Kathleen Fitzpatrick was awarded an Order of Australia in 1989. She died on 27 August, 1990. |
| Activities/Occupation: |
Academics - History |
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