Hilma Dymphna Clark (née Lodewyckx; 18 December 1916 – 12 May 2000), was an Australian

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and educator. She was married to the historian

Manning Clark Charles Manning Hope Clark, (3 March 1915 – 23 May 1991) was an Australian historian and the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume ''A History of Australia'', published between 1962 and 1987. He has been descri ...

. Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

of Swedish and Flemish ancestry, Clark was educated at Mont Albert Central School and the Presbyterian Ladies' College in East Melbourne. Her father was Augustin Lodewyckx, the Associate Professor of Germanic languages at Melbourne University, and her mother – Anna Sophia (''née'' Hansen) – also taught Swedish at Melbourne University. Clark finished Presbyterian Ladies College early (aged 15) and spent time at school in Munich, with her mother, in 1933. Returning to Melbourne, she studied languages to honours level at Melbourne University, where she met Manning Clark. In 1938, she travelled to Bonn on a scholarship to undertake doctoral studies in German literature. She was there when Kristallnacht occurred, and left soon after with the increasing threat of war. She met with Clark in Oxford and they married there on 31 January 1939. They had six children together. She taught at Blundell's School in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

in the first year of her marriage and they returned to Australia in 1940. Clark became a distinguished linguist and translator, fluent in eight languages and able to speak another four. She lectured in German at the Australian National University in Canberra. Her translations included the botanist Charles von Hugel's ''New Holland Journals'' and, with Peter Sack, the German reports of the Governor of German New Guinea from 1886 to 1914. She also worked on her husband's projects, undertaking editing and research. She established Manning Clark House (Dympha and Manning's own house from 1953), and was heavily involved in the

Aboriginal Treaty Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

Committee (1979–1983); it was she who drafted the Council's preamble for review by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. Since 2002, the

Dymphna Clark Memorial Lecture The Dymphna Clark Memorial Lecture is presented in honour of Dymphna Clark, an Australian linguist and educator, and wife of historian Manning Clark. The first Dymphna Clark Memorial Lecture was presented on 2 March 2002 at Manning Clark House ...

has been given in her honour.

References

External links

Manning Clark House

NLA: MS 9873
Guide to the Papers of Dymphna Clark {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Dymphna 1916 births 2000 deaths Linguists from Australia Women linguists Australian National University Australian people of Belgian descent Australian people of Swedish descent Academics from Melbourne People educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne 20th-century linguists