Mary Durack. Image: National Library of Australia
Mary Durack. Image: National Library of Australia - From organisers of ethnic clubs to gay activists and campaigners against violence to women, prominent Australians who gave a voice to the silenced and drove a new wave of activism have been immortalised in the latest Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB) entries. Based at The Australian National University and published by the ANU Press, the ADB has published 680 lives of significant and representative Australians who died between 1991 and 1995. Together the in-depth entries illuminate the changing nature of Australian society. Director of the National Centre for Biography, Professor Melanie Nolan, said that while this volume still sits in the shadow of World War II, there are increasing numbers of non-white, non-male, non-privileged, and non-straight subjects. "By the 1990s, Australian society had become a diverse mix of cultures from all over the world with an estimated five million people living in Australia who were born overseas, and that is reflected in these articles," Professor Nolan said. "The arts, for instance, are always well-represented and this volume includes writers Frank Hardy, Mary Durack and Nene Gare, actors Frank Thring and Leonard Teale, and arts patron Ian Potter. "We are also beginning to see the effects of the steep rise in post-war immigration flow through to the ADB.
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