Sir Keith Sinclair (5 December 1922 – 20 June 1993) was a New Zealand poet and historian.

Academic career

Sinclair was the oldest child of Ernest Duncan Sinclair and Florence Pyrenes Kennedy. Born and raised in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, Sinclair was a student at Auckland University College, which was then part of the University of New Zealand. He was awarded a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

at the College and was made a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

of history at 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 ...

in 1963. In 1966, Sinclair and fellow lecturer Bob Chapman established

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 ...

Art Collection, beginning with the purchase of several paintings and drawings by

Colin McCahon Colin John McCahon (; 1August 191927May 1987) was a prominent New Zealand artist whose work over 45 years consisted of various styles, including landscape, figuration, abstraction, and the overlay of painted text. Along with Toss Woollaston an ...

. The Collection is now managed by the Centre for Art Research, based at the Gus Fisher Gallery. Sinclair won widespread acclaim for his first book of history, ''The Origins of the Maori Wars'' (1957). His next book, ''A History of New Zealand'' (1959), is often regarded as a classic in New Zealand history. The book remains in print, being revised several times, the last, with additions by fellow academic

Raewyn Dalziel Raewyn Mary Dalziel is a New Zealand historian specialising in New Zealand social history. Career Dalziel was Vice Chancellor (Academic) of the University of Auckland from 1999 to 2009. She is an emeritus professor of history at the univers ...

, in 2000. In 1967 he founded the ''New Zealand Journal of History''. In both his poetry and his work as a historian, Sinclair was a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

, in the sense that he was concerned with forging a national identity for New Zealand that was independent of its colonial origins.

Political life

In the 1969 general election he was the Labour Party candidate for Eden. He won the electorate on the night, but was defeated 3 weeks later on the final count (including special votes) by only 67 votes. Later he wrote an acclaimed biography of Labour Prime Minister

Walter Nash Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, hav ...

who had left his vast personal archives at Sinclair's disposal. The book won the 1977 National Book Award.

Later life

In the 1983 Queen's Birthday Honours, Sinclair was appointed a

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 ...

, for services to literature. Two years later, he was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are ...

, for services to historical research and literature, in the 1985 Queen's Birthday Honours. He then taught history at the University of Auckland until his retirement in 1987. ''Halfway Round the Harbour'', an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, was published

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication Posthumous publication refers to material that is published after the author's death. This can be because the auth ...

in 1993. In 2003, the University of Auckland established the Keith Sinclair Chair in History in his honour. In 2005, he was named one of

New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers ''New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers'' was a weekly television programme first shown on Prime Television New Zealand on 6 October 2005. 430 notable New Zealanders were ranked by a panel to determine the 100 most influential in New Zealand his ...

. One of his sons is the actor

Harry Sinclair Harry Alan Sinclair (born 1959) is a New Zealand film director, writer and actor. In his early career he was an actor and member of The Front Lawn, a musical theater duo. He went on to write and direct several short films, a TV series and th ...

; another, Stephen, is a New Zealand playwright and poet.

Bibliography

History

* 1957: ''The Origins of the Maori Wars'' * 1959: ''A History of New Zealand'' * 1965: '' William Pember Reeves: New Zealand Fabian'' * 1967: ''The Liberal Government, 1891–1912: First Steps Towards a Welfare State'' * 1976: ''

'' (1976) * 1982: ''A Soldier's View of Empire: the Reminiscences of James Bodell'' (as editor) * 1983: ''A History of the University of Auckland'', Auckland University Press. * 1986: ''A Destiny Apart: New Zealand's Search for a National Identity'' * 1990: ''The Oxford Illustrated History of New Zealand'' (as editor) * 1991: ''Kinds of Peace: Maori People After the Wars, 1870–85'' * TVNZ Bateman New Zealand Encyclopaedia CD-ROM 2nd Edition

Poetry

* 1952: ''Songs for a Summer and Other Poems'' *

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

: ''Strangers or Beasts: Poems'' * 1963: ''A Time to Embrace'' * 1973: ''The Firewheel Tree'' * 1993: ''Moontalk''

Other

* ''The Reefs of Fire'' (1977) – a children's book

References

External links

* Sinclair'
entry
in the 1966 ''Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'' on the origins of the Maori Wars. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Keith 1922 births 1993 deaths 20th-century New Zealand historians New Zealand male poets New Zealand biographers Male biographers University of Auckland alumni University of Auckland faculty People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School New Zealand Knights Bachelor New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand Labour Party politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1969 New Zealand general election 20th-century New Zealand poets 20th-century New Zealand male writers 20th-century biographers

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons i ...