Anne Godfrey-Smith (30 November 1921 – 15 June 2011) was an Australian poet, theatre director and women's activist.
Early life and education
Godfrey-Smith was born on 30 November 1921 in
Launceston, Tasmania. Her mother,
Margaret Edgeworth McIntyre (née David), was the first woman to be elected to the Tasmanian parliament.
Her father, William Keverall McIntyre, practised as an obstetrician.
Her education began in Launceston at Broadland House Church of England Girls Grammar School, but from 1935 to 1938 she was sent to board at
Frensham School
Frensham School is an independent non-denominational comprehensive single-sex preschool, primary, and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located at Mittagong, in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Australia.
Estab ...
in
Mittagong
Mittagong () is a town located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town acts as the gateway to the Southern Highlands when coming from Sydney. Mittagong is situated at an elevation of . The town ...
, New South Wales.
She graduated from the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
in 1941 with a BSc in biochemistry.
She later took a BA at the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
, followed by an MA at
Flinders University
Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...
for her thesis on
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...
.
Career
In the 1940s she worked as a pathologist at Sydney's
Royal North Shore Hospital
The Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located in St Leonards. It serves as a teaching hospital for Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney and has over 600 beds. It is the prin ...
. Following her marriage, she and her husband, Rowland Anthony (Tony) Godfrey-Smith, moved to Launceston
where she continued her involvement in theatre as part-time actor, producer and director with the
Launceston Players
The Launceston Players Society is an Australian theatre company, formed in September 1926 in Launceston Tasmania.
It is one of the oldest theatre companies in Australia.
Since 1926, the Launceston Players have put on shows such as '' Lock Up ...
, the company her mother had founded in 1926. When her husband undertook postgraduate training in England in 1950 she was given the opportunity by
Tyrone Guthrie
Sir William Tyrone Guthrie (2 July 1900 – 15 May 1971) was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at his ...
to spend five months at the Stratford-on-Avon Memorial Theatre where she developed her theatre production and management skills.
Returning to the Launceston Players, she also worked as producer/director for the local opera company. In 1953 she moved to Canberra as full-time producer and manager for the Canberra Repertory Society. The following year she was divorced by her husband on the grounds of desertion. In the late 1950s she married Robert Johnson and at the end of 1958 she resigned from Canberra Repertory Society.
In 1975 Godfrey-Smith was appointed by the National Youth and Children's Performing Arts Association to conduct an Australia-wide survey of young people and the performing arts, producing a detailed report on her findings in late 1977.
In the 1980s she served on the Theatre Board of the
Australia Council
The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...
and in 1986 was appointed to the ACT Arts Development Board.
Honours and recognition
Godfrey-Smith was awarded the
British Empire Medal
The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...
in the 1980 New Year Honours "for service to theatre". She was ACT Citizen of the Year in 1994,
while in the
2005 Australia Day Honours
The 2005 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2005 by the Governor General of Australia, Michael Jeffrey.
The Austra ...
she was recognised with the
Medal of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
"for service to the arts, particularly through a range of theatre, literary and cultural organisations".
Death and legacy
Godfrey-Smith died in
Narrabundah
Narrabundah () ( postcode: 2604) is a leafy, medium density suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, located in the inner south of the city.
Narrabundah is an established garden suburb, valued for its equal proximity to both Civic and ...
on 15 June 2011. She was survived by her two sons.
In recognition of her contribution to the formation and operation of the ACT Writers Centre,
the Anne Edgeworth Fellowship for emerging young writers was inaugurated. Her papers are held in the
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...
.
Works
Poetry
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Prose
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey-Smith, Anne
1921 births
2011 deaths
People educated at Frensham School
University of Sydney alumni
Australian National University alumni
Flinders University alumni
Australian pathologists
Australian women poets
Australian theatre directors
Australian women theatre directors
Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Australian recipients of the British Empire Medal