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Rebel Women Who Changed Australia
Visionaries, pioneers, activists and artists - women who made a difference to Australia
An updated and condensed edition of Susanna de Vries' Great Australian Women, this is a celebration of women who broke the mould, crashed through the ceilings, and shaped the nation in the fields of medicine, law, the arts and politics.
From Lillie Goodisson, pioneer of family planning, to Eileen Joyce, world-famous pianist, Enid Lyons, our first female cabinet minister, Stella Miles Franklin, who endowed our most celebrated literary prize, and Catherine Hamlin, who has given hope to thousands of women through her fistula hospitals in Africa, these are women who have made a difference. They are the women who helped to forge the Australia we know today.
An updated and condensed edition of Susanna de Vries' Great Australian Women, this is a celebration of women who broke the mould, crashed through the ceilings, and shaped the nation in the fields of medicine, law, the arts and politics.
From Lillie Goodisson, pioneer of family planning, to Eileen Joyce, world-famous pianist, Enid Lyons, our first female cabinet minister, Stella Miles Franklin, who endowed our most celebrated literary prize, and Catherine Hamlin, who has given hope to thousands of women through her fistula hospitals in Africa, these are women who have made a difference. They are the women who helped to forge the Australia we know today.
- GenresNonfictionHistorical
592 pages, Paperback
Published April 15, 2019
6 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Susanna de Vries
38 books11 followers(From 'Blue Ribbons Bitter Bread')
SUSANNA DE VRIES is an art historian who has now retired from lecturing at the Continuing Education Department of the University of Queensland. She was born in London and attended the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Madrid. She came to Australia in 1975, has been the recipient of a Churchill Fellowship and has written extensively on art history, both here and abroad. She was made a member of the Order of Australia in 1996 'for services to Australian and European art'.
In addition to writing Blue Ribbons Bitter Bread, which has won several awards, Susanna is the author of the following books: Historic Brisbane and its Early Artists; Historic Sydney—the Founding of Australia; Pioneer Women, Pioneer Land; The Impressionists Revealed; Conrad Martens on the 'Beagle' and in Australia; Ethel Carrick Fox—Travels and Triumphs of a Post-Impressionist; Strength of Spirit—Pioneering Women of Achievement from First Fleet to Federation and Strength of Purpose—Australian Women of Achievement; part-author of Parenting Girls with Dr Janet Irwin. For HarperCollins she has written a four-volume paperback series on Great Australia Women. Volumes One and Two have now been reissued as a double volume titled Great Australian Women, 36 Women who Changed Australia, and Volume Three Heroic Australian Women in War [HarperCollins, 2004]. Volume Four is titled Great Women of the Outback [HarperCollins 2005]. Together with her husband, Jake de Vries she has written the illustrated book Historic Brisbane—Convict Settlement to River City [published by Pandanus Press] and To Hell and Back, the banned account of Gallipoli.
(From 'Royal Mistresses')
Susanna de Vries was born and raised in England and now divides her time between Australia and Europe. She is the author of a dozen biographies of women and three books of art history.
As an adopted child, the product of a liaison between a married aristocrat and his married mistress, she was drawn to research this complex topic and the result was Royal Mistresses.
Educated at St George’s Ascot, Berkshire Susanna studied art history and literature in Paris and Madrid. She undertook post-graduate study in Florence and on a Churchill Fellowship was allowed to conduct research in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. She received an Order of Australia (AM) for ‘services to art and literature’ and an award for a distinguished contribution to literature by the Australian Society of Women Writers. She has retired from lecturing at university but is an approved lecturer for the Australian branch of NADFAS, the Fine and Decorative Art Society.
Susanna became interested in effects of arranged marriages between cousins, a usual practice among royal families and the genetic and psychological effects when her first husband worked in the Department of Clinical Psychiatry headed by Professor Sir Martin Roth, a respected psychiatrist consulted by several members of the royal family and came to Australia when her late husband was appointed professor at the Medical School of the University of Queensland.
SUSANNA DE VRIES is an art historian who has now retired from lecturing at the Continuing Education Department of the University of Queensland. She was born in London and attended the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Madrid. She came to Australia in 1975, has been the recipient of a Churchill Fellowship and has written extensively on art history, both here and abroad. She was made a member of the Order of Australia in 1996 'for services to Australian and European art'.
In addition to writing Blue Ribbons Bitter Bread, which has won several awards, Susanna is the author of the following books: Historic Brisbane and its Early Artists; Historic Sydney—the Founding of Australia; Pioneer Women, Pioneer Land; The Impressionists Revealed; Conrad Martens on the 'Beagle' and in Australia; Ethel Carrick Fox—Travels and Triumphs of a Post-Impressionist; Strength of Spirit—Pioneering Women of Achievement from First Fleet to Federation and Strength of Purpose—Australian Women of Achievement; part-author of Parenting Girls with Dr Janet Irwin. For HarperCollins she has written a four-volume paperback series on Great Australia Women. Volumes One and Two have now been reissued as a double volume titled Great Australian Women, 36 Women who Changed Australia, and Volume Three Heroic Australian Women in War [HarperCollins, 2004]. Volume Four is titled Great Women of the Outback [HarperCollins 2005]. Together with her husband, Jake de Vries she has written the illustrated book Historic Brisbane—Convict Settlement to River City [published by Pandanus Press] and To Hell and Back, the banned account of Gallipoli.
(From 'Royal Mistresses')
Susanna de Vries was born and raised in England and now divides her time between Australia and Europe. She is the author of a dozen biographies of women and three books of art history.
As an adopted child, the product of a liaison between a married aristocrat and his married mistress, she was drawn to research this complex topic and the result was Royal Mistresses.
Educated at St George’s Ascot, Berkshire Susanna studied art history and literature in Paris and Madrid. She undertook post-graduate study in Florence and on a Churchill Fellowship was allowed to conduct research in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. She received an Order of Australia (AM) for ‘services to art and literature’ and an award for a distinguished contribution to literature by the Australian Society of Women Writers. She has retired from lecturing at university but is an approved lecturer for the Australian branch of NADFAS, the Fine and Decorative Art Society.
Susanna became interested in effects of arranged marriages between cousins, a usual practice among royal families and the genetic and psychological effects when her first husband worked in the Department of Clinical Psychiatry headed by Professor Sir Martin Roth, a respected psychiatrist consulted by several members of the royal family and came to Australia when her late husband was appointed professor at the Medical School of the University of Queensland.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 13, 2019
Took this one w me to the cricket in BHam over the weekend (Susanna De Vries ’Rebel Women who changed Australia’). It’s a cracker - I have a bit of a soft spot for a rebel, me. My favorite so far ... Nancy Bird Wilson, the pilot. She’s 13, never been up in a plane and pays the pilot extra to perform some aerobatics! Works a 16 hour day at 14 years old to save for flying lessons. At 16 she takes her first lesson w none other than Charles Kingsford Smith. Wants to be a commercial pilot at a time when women weren’t hired as such, so raises the money for her own plane and starts a business herself. Wins the Adelaide to Brisbane air race. Trains the first pilots in the Women’s Aux Air Force. Has an airport and a Qantas A380 named after her (will have to look out for that one!)
This volume is an updated and abridged version of 2 earlier histories by de Vries and though solid, sits nicely in the hand and I averaged two or three of the short and chatty biographies in the breaks at the cricket. Perfect book to dip in and out of on a lazy day or last thing before bed!
This volume is an updated and abridged version of 2 earlier histories by de Vries and though solid, sits nicely in the hand and I averaged two or three of the short and chatty biographies in the breaks at the cricket. Perfect book to dip in and out of on a lazy day or last thing before bed!
June 28, 2020
A huge amount of research went into this, and I discovered the stories of several women that I'd never heard of before. The coverage is a little unbalanced - just a few pages about some women, but what I thought was an overly long and detailed account of others. Good as an introduction, much of it seems to be written for a high school aged audience.
November 26, 2020
Overall I really enjoyed this book, it was easy to read, well written and it provided a fascinating look into not only the lives of so many extraordinary women but also what life was like in general over the last 150 years. I did find it weird that one of the chapters was mostly just excerpts from that person's diary when all the other chapters had been written out in full by the author.
August 30, 2020
I love the idea of this book but it just didn’t meet my expectations. I didn’t find it well written; being a strange mix of fact and supposition. I felt there was subjective filling of gaps. Some accounts lacked detail and others had too much detail and not all relevant.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews