Ian Bowditch (9 March 1939 – 25 February 2008) was an Australian fencer. He competed in the team

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contain ...

event at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

. Before this, Ian and his brother Bruce were both awarded full

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

for fencing as members of the

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

Fencing Club. Bowditch, who trained as a lawyer, helped draft the

Constitution of Nauru The constitution of the Republic of Nauru was adopted following national independence on 31 January 1968. In 2007 there were political debates in progress with a view to amend aspects of the Constitution, owing to the challenge of widely acknowle ...

while working as an Australian Government Legal Officer prior to Nauru's independence. He later practiced as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

at the

Victorian Bar The Victorian Bar is the bar association of the Australian State of Victoria. The current President of the Bar is Roisin Annesley KC. Its members are barristers registered to practice in Victoria. On 30 June 2020, there were 2,179 counsels ...

for over 25 years (signing the Victorian Bar Roll on 24 November 1983 and retiring in 2003). He was the father of singer

Clare Bowditch Clare Bowditch (born 1975) is an Australian musician, actress, radio presenter and business entrepreneur. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2006, Bowditch won the ARIA Award for Best Female Artist and was nominated for a Logie Award for her work on ...

References

External links

* 1939 births 2008 deaths Australian male fencers Olympic fencers for Australia Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Place of birth missing {{Australia-fencing-bio-stub