Dame Georgina Kamiria Kirby (31 January 1936 – 11 June 2021) was a New Zealand

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

leader and women's advocate.

Background

Kirby was born in 1936 at Horohoro, near Rotorua, the eldest of 11 children of a farming family. She was a member of the

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative di ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

. She attended Horohoro School, Rotorua High School, and the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. She had a number of jobs in the 1950s and 1960s including being a junior assistant teacher at Whakarewarewa School from 1953 to 1954, a toll operator from 1955 to 1956, and a training officer from 1956 to 1963 with the

New Zealand Post Office The New Zealand Post Office (NZPO) was a government department of New Zealand until 1987. It was previously (from 1881 to 1959) named the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department (NZ P&T). As a government department, the New Zealand Post Office ...

. In 1977 she went abroad to study arts administration at the National Arts School in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and the

Aboriginal Arts Board 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 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia.

Career

Kirby was connected with many organisations and events throughout her career. She was a strong advocate for Māori economic and arts development. She helped establish the Te Taumata Art Gallery in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. She was a member of the

Māori Women's Welfare League The Māori Women’s Welfare League or Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko I te Ora is a New Zealand welfare organisation focusing on Māori women and children. It held its first conference in Wellington in September 1951. The League's official aims ...

from 1976 and was president from 1983 to 1987. During her tenure, she launched health campaigns such as smoking cessation and obesity reduction. Kirby formed Māori Women's Development Incorporated to help Māori women who could not obtain loan grants. She wrote the curriculum herself, and gave it out to women around the country in her numerous roadshows. In 1993, along with

Marilyn Waring Dame Marilyn Joy Waring (born 7 October 1952) is a New Zealand public policy scholar, international development consultant, former politician, environmentalist, feminist and a principal founder of feminist economics. In 1975, aged 23, she beca ...

and

Jocelyn Fish Dame Jocelyn Barbara Fish (née Green; 29 September 1930 – 19 September 2021) was a New Zealand women's rights campaigner. Biography Fish was born Jocelyn Barbara Green, the daughter of Edna and John Green, at Whangārei on 29 September 1930 ...

, Kirby introduced the concept of gender representation in Parliament. The same year, she and 15 other leaders filed the Mana Wāhine Inquiry claim before the

Waitangi Tribunal The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on cla ...

. Kirby died in Auckland on 11 June 2021, aged 85.

Organisations

The following list includes some of the organisations that Kirby was connected with: * Māori Education Fund, trustee * Te Kohanga Reo National Trust, trustee * NZ Women's Refuge Foundation, trustee * NZ Māori Artists and Writers’ Society Ngā Puna Waihanga, National Secretary 1973-84 * Te Manuka Film Trust in Wellington, trustee

Honours and awards

In the

1989 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1989 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

, Kirby was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for community service. In 1993, she was awarded the

New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 was established by Royal Warrant on 1 July 1993. It was created to commemorate Women's suffrage in New Zealand and to recognize those New Zealand and Commonwealth citizens who had made a significant ...

. In the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to the Māori people.

References

External links

Māori Women's Development Incorporated websiteKahungunu website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Georgina 1936 births 2021 deaths New Zealand Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand activists New Zealand women activists New Zealand justices of the peace People from Auckland People from Rotorua University of Auckland alumni Ngāti Kahungunu people Companions of the Queen's Service Order Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 People of the Māori Women's Welfare League People educated at Rotorua Girls' High School