Leonie Kramer

Dame Leonie Kramer AC,DBE
Born	Leonie Judith Gibson 1 October 1924 Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
Died	20 April 2016(2016-04-20)(aged 91) Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
Alma mater	University of Melbourne University of Oxford
Spouse(s)	Harry Kramer (1952–1988, his death)
Children	2
Parent(s)	Alfred Gibson Gertrude Gibson

Dame Leonie Judith Kramer,AC,DBE(1 October 1924 – 20 April 2016) was an Australian academic, educator and professor. She is notable as the first female professor of English in Australia, first woman to chair theAustralian Broadcasting Corporationand the first female chancellor of theUniversity of Sydney.She was made aDame Commander of the Order of the British Empireand aCompanion of the Order of Australia.

Education

Kramer was born Leonie Gibson to Alfred and Gertrude Gibson in Melbourne on 1 October 1924.She was educated atPresbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne,and entered theUniversity of Melbournein 1942, where she was a resident in the women's section ofTrinity College,known asJanet Clarke Hall,and was awarded an A. M. White entrance scholarship.She took her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1945, and later attendedOxford University,where she graduated Doctor of Philosophy in 1953. During her postgraduate years at Oxford she tutored atSt Hugh's College.

Career

Kramer was appointed a lecturer in English in 1958, then senior lecturer and finally an associate professor in English at theUniversity of New South Wales(UNSW).Kramer remained at UNSW until 1968, when she was appointed Professor of Australian Literature at theUniversity of Sydney,the first female professor of English in Australia.She was Visiting Professor atHarvard University's Chair of Australian Literature Studies (1981–82). She was an Emeritus Professor of Australian Literature at the University of Sydney.She was elected a Fellow of theAustralian Academy of the Humanitiesin 1974.

A major focus of Kramer's critical writing was the works ofHenry Handel Richardson.She also edited theOxford History of Australian Literature(1981)which did not receive good reviews.

Kramer served on numerous public bodies during her long career. She was the first woman to be appointed to the Chair of theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation(1982–83),having served as a member of the ABC Board since 1977. During her time at the ABC, Kramer came to be known as "Servalan"after the autocratic character in theBBCscience fictionseriesBlake's 7.

Her other appointments include the Secondary Schools Board (1976–82), the Council of theNational Library(1975–81),NAATI(1977–81) and the Universities Council (1977–86). She served as a senior fellow of theInstitute of Public Affairs(1988–96), a commissioner of theNSW Electricity Commission(1988–95) and chairman of the board of directors of theNational Institute of Dramatic Art(1987–92). She also served on the boards of large corporations includingWestern Mining CorporationandANZ Banking Group.

In 1986 she received the inaugural Britannica Award for the "dissemination of learning for the benefit of mankind". She also received honorary DLitt from theUniversity of Tasmaniaand honorary LLDs from the University of Melbourne and theAustralian National University.

She was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empirein 1976.In 1982, she was made a Dame Commander of the order.In 1993 she was appointed a Companion of theOrder of Australia,at the time, the highest civilian award in the Australian honours system for "service to Australian literature, to education and to the community".

Kramer was deputy chancellor of theUniversity of Sydneyfrom 1989 to 1991 and chancellor from 1991 to 2001, becoming the first woman to hold the position.In 1995, she chaired the judging panel of theMiles Franklin AwardwhereHelen Darvillewas conferred the award for her novelThe Hand That Signed the Paper.It was later revealed that Darville alias Demidenko had faked her Ukrainian ancestry on which the book was based.The same year she met criticism for her statement that women "go a bit limp when going gets tough." She stated this in August 1995 when asked about higher positions held in her university by women. She justified her comment stating that she herself "can go limp at times" and attributed it to nothing other than their individual choices.

At the request of the parliament and a hostile university senate, theGovernor of New South Walesempowered the senate to dismiss the chancellor of Sydney University in 2001. Kramer retired moments before a controversial senate meeting was to take place to dismiss her.The senate had passed a no-confidence motion concerning to contract details of then-Vice ChancellorGavin Brown.

Personal life and death

Kramer married Harry Kramer, a South African pathologist, in England in 1952. The couple moved to Australia in 1953, as Harry refused to return to South Africa while apartheid prevailed there. They had two daughters, Hillary and Jocelyn.Harry Kramer died in 1988.

In 2011, following worsening health associated with advancedAlzheimer's disease,Kramer's daughters admitted her to Lulworth House for full-time residential care.In 2012, at Lulworth House, she fractured her hip, and her mobility was greatly limited for the rest of her life.

Her memoir,Broomstick: Personal Reflections of Leonie Kramer,was published in 2012 by Australian Scholarly Publishing.She died, aged 91, on 20 April 2016.

Bibliography

As author

• Henry Handel Richardson and Some of Her Sources(1954)
• A Companion to Australia Felix(1962)
• Myself When Laura: Fact and Fiction in Henry Handel Richardson's School Career(1966)
• Henry Handel Richardson(1967)
• Henry Kendall(1973) (withA.D. Hope)
• Language and Literature: A Synthesis(1976) (with Robert D. Eagleson)ISBN0-17-004996-5
• A Guide to Language and Literature(1977) (with Robert D. Eagleson)ISBN0-17-005008-4
• A.D. Hope(1979)
• Broomstick: Personal Reflections of Leonie Kramer(2012)ISBN978-1-921875-84-7

As editor

• Collected Poems(ofDavid Campbell) (1957, 1989)
• Australian Poetry 1961(1962)
• Coast to Coast: Australian Stories 1963–1964(1965)
• Selected Stories(ofHal Porter) (1971)
• The Oxford History of Australian Literature(1981)
• The Oxford Anthology of Australian Literature(1985) (with Adrian Mitchell)ISBN0-19-554477-3
• My Country: Australian Poetry and Stories: Two Hundred Years(1985)ISBN0-7018-1927-8
• James McAuley:Poetry, Essays and Personal Commentary(1988)ISBN0-7022-1925-8
• The Multicultural Experiment: Immigrants, Refugees and National Identity(2003)ISBN1-876492-10-4

External links

• Biographical entry atAustralian Women's Archives Project
• University of Sydney "Chancellors" Gallery