Valentine Alexa Leeper (14 February 1900 – 26 July 2001) was an Australian classicist, teacher,

polemicist Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...

, and letter-writer of renown.

Life

Valentine Leeper was born on Valentine's Day 1900 in the Leeper Building of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

at the

University of Melbourne 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 nor ...

, daughter of

Alexander Leeper Alexander Leeper (3 June 1848 – 6 August 1934), was an Australian educator. Alexander Leeper, the son of the Rev. Alexander Leeper, canon of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, was born on 3 June 1848. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin ...

, first warden of that college, and his second wife, Mary (née Moule). Her half-brothers,

Reginald Leeper Sir Reginald "Rex" Wilding Allen Leeper (25 March 1888 – 2 February 1968) was a British civil servant and diplomat. He was the founder of the British Council. Born in Sydney, Australia, Leeper was educated at Melbourne Grammar School, Melb ...

and Allen Leeper, both became prominent British diplomats. Her brother, Geoffrey Leeper, became the first professor of

agricultural chemistry Agricultural chemistry is the study of chemistry, especially organic chemistry and biochemistry, as they relate to agriculture—agricultural production, the processing of raw products into foods and beverages, and environmental monitoring and re ...

at the University of Melbourne.Trinity College - Women at Trinity - Valentine Alexa Leeper
/ref> Leeper was educated at Melbourne Church of England Girls Grammar School and at Trinity College. For many years she worked as secretary and carer to her father, and then as carer for her mother. After both had died, in her middle age, she obtained work as a school teacher.

Views

Eccentric and conservative in style, but liberal in many of her views, Leeper acquired from her father the spirit of a controversialist, and over many decades she was a frequent writer of letters to newspapers, government ministers, Anglican church leaders and many others. She was a commentator and activist on international affairs (e.g. as a long-time member of the

League of Nations Union The League of Nations Union (LNU) was an organization formed in October 1918 in Great Britain to promote international justice, collective security and a permanent peace between nations based upon the ideals of the League of Nations. The League of N ...

), Indigenous affairs (including as a long-time member of the Victorian Aboriginal Group), education (including the protection of classical studies), the church (for example, as an advocate of women's ordination). Her other interests included hockey playing. In 1944, she published a pamphlet, ''Piecrust Promises'', attacking what she saw as the British betrayal of Poland to the Soviet Union during World War II, which had originally been fought to protect Poland. For many years in the mid-20th century, Leeper appeared on Australian radio as a provider of little-known information and her own clear opinions. A strong defender of her father's memory and opinions, she provided much information for a biography of him, written by John Poynter, and published in 1997. In 1998, Leeper was installed as a fellow of

Trinity College (University of Melbourne) Trinity College is the oldest residential college of the University of Melbourne, the first university in the colony of Victoria, Australia. The college was opened in 1872 on a site granted to the Church of England by the government of Victori ...

. She died in 2001 and her ashes were interred in a garden next to the building in which she was born and in which she had played as a girl. ''Nobody's Valentine: Letters in the Life of Valentine Alexa Leeper, 1900-2001'' was published in 2008. It was launched by

Geoffrey Blainey Geoffrey Norman Blainey (born 11 March 1930) is an Australian historian, academic, best selling author and commentator. He is noted for having written authoritative texts on the economic and social history of Australia, including '' The Tyranny ...

and has been described by women's historian

Patricia Grimshaw Patricia Ann Grimshaw, (born 16 December 1938) is a retired Australian academic who specialised in women's and Indigenous peoples' history. One of her most influential works is ''Women's Suffrage in New Zealand'', first published in 1972, which ...

as "a vivid and compelling portrait of this influential woman", and as being at "the forefront of insightful biography".Patricia Grimshaw, "A woman of passionate engagement", ''TrinityToday'',

, December 2008, p. 9.

References

Sources

* Marion Poynter, ''Nobody's Valentine: Letters in the Life of Valentine Alexa Leeper, 1900-2001'', Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2008. * Patricia Grimshaw, "A woman of passionate engagement", ''TrinityToday'',

, December 2008. *

Donald Markwell Donald John Markwell (born 19 April 1959) is an Australian social scientist, who has been described as a "renowned Australian educational reformer". He was appointed Head of St Mark's College, Adelaide, from November 2019. He was Senior Adviser ...

, "Valentine Leeper", in A large and liberal education': higher education for the 21st century'', Australian Scholarly Publishing & Trinity College, University of Melbourne, 2007. *

, "''Nobody's Valentine'': A Personal Reflection", ''TrinityToday'',

, September 2008. * John Poynter, ''Doubts and Certainties: A life of

'', Melbourne University Press, 1997.

External links

Valentine Alexa Leeper archival display, Trinity College, University of Melbourne
*
''Nobody's Valentine''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leeper, Valentine 1900 births 2001 deaths Australian non-fiction writers Australian women writers People educated at Melbourne Girls Grammar