Meroula ("Mollie") Frances Fellowes Lukis (13 August 1912 – 1 August 2009) was a prominent Western Australian
archivist and promoter of
women's rights.
Lukis was born in
Balingup, Western Australia in 1912. She attended St Mary's Church of England School in Perth and the
University of Western Australia from where she graduated with Honours in 1932. She gained a Diploma of Teaching the following year and worked as a teacher in
Perth,
Victoria and
England from 1932 to 1940. During the
Second World War she worked at the Munitions Supply Laboratories in Victoria.
In 1945, State Librarian
James Battye
James Sykes Battye (1871–1954) was an Australian librarian who was the first chief librarian of the Victoria Public Library in Perth, Western Australia. He was a leading historian, librarian and public figure in Western Australian and also s ...
chose her to lead the state's archive branch, making her Australia's first female State Archivist. She was strongly influenced by the American archival theorist
Theodore Schellenberg, whom she met during his 1954 Australian tour. In 1957, she was awarded a Carnegie Grant which allowed her to travel to the United States to study with him.
Lukis became the first head of the
Battye Library in 1956 and retired in 1971.
She was appointed an
Officer 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 ...
in 1976 and an
Order of Australia Medal for her archival work.
She also received an honorary doctorate from Murdoch University.
In 2006, ''
The West Australian'' listed her as one of its 100 most influential people.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lukis, Mollie
1912 births
2009 deaths
Australian librarians
Australian women librarians
People from Donnybrook, Western Australia
Australian archivists
Women archivists
Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia