Leslie Finlay Crisp (19 January 191721 December 1984) was an Australian academic and political scientist. The son of Leslie Walter Crisp (1884–1965), and Ruby Elizabeth Crisp (1896–1951), née Duff, Leslie Finlay Crisp was born in

Sandringham, Victoria Sandringham is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Bayside local government area. Sandringham recorded a population of 10,926 at the 2021 census. History ...

on 19 January 1917. He married Helen Craven Wighton (1916–2002), whom he had met at university in Adelaide, on 22 June 1940 in Oxford, U.K. He suffered a heart attack on 19 December 1984, and died, in Canberra, on 21 December 1984. Educated at Black Rock State School,

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day school, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as ...

and

St Peter's College, Adelaide , other_name = The Collegiate School of St Peter , seal_image = St Peter's College, Adelaide Logo.svg , seal_size = 150 , image = SPSC chapel and memorial hall.jpg , image_size ...

, where he graduated in 1934, Crisp earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and history from the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

. While at university, he and his, later, wife Helen (then Helen Wighton) formed the

National Union of Australian University Students The Australian Union of Students (AUS), formerly National Union of Australian University Students (NUAUS), was a representative body and lobby group for Australian university and college of advanced education students. It collapsed in 1984 and w ...

. In 1938, he was awarded a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

and went on to study at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, although his studies were disrupted while he worked for the Australian Public Service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1945, he was a member of the Australian Delegation to form the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. He earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Oxford in 1948. His work included positions with the Short-wave Broadcasting Service (later

Radio Australia ABC Radio Australia, also known as Radio Australia, is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australia's public broadcaster. Most programming is in English, with some in Tok ...

) and the

Department of Labour and National Service The Department of Labour and National Service was an Australian government department that existed between October 1940 and December 1972. Scope Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be ...

, and he became head of the Department of Post-War Reconstruction in 1949. In 1949, Crisp published his MA thesis from the University of Adelaide as ''The Parliamentary Government of the Commonwealth of Australia''. Widely prescribed as a politics textbook, it was expanded and renamed ''Australian National Government'' in 1965. From 1950, he was a professor of political science 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 ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, serving as head of the department from 1950 to 1970. Although increasingly disillusioned with changes in Australian universities, he continued teaching until retirement in 1977. He was appointed a director of the Commonwealth Banking Corporation in 1974, and served as chairman of the board from 1975 to 1984. In 2005, Crisp and his wife were two of the first 17 inductees in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

Honour Walk, recognising their contribution to the development of Canberra. Crisp Circuit in the

suburb of

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...

was dedicated in his name.

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References and further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crisp, Fin 1917 births 1984 deaths Australian public servants Australian National University faculty Australian Rhodes Scholars University of Adelaide alumni Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford People educated at Caulfield Grammar School Australian political scientists People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide 20th-century Australian public servants People from Sandringham, Victoria 20th-century political scientists Commonwealth Bank people

See also

Notes

References and further reading