Macintyre, Stuart
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Stuart Forbes Macintyre (21 April 1947 – 22 November 2021) was an Australian historian, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts 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 ...
from 1999 to 2008. He was voted one of Australia's most influential historians.


Early life and education

The son of Forbes Macintyre and Alison Stevens Macintyre, Stuart Macintyre was born in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on 21 April 1947. His schooling took place at Scotch College, and later 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 ...
. While an undergraduate he specialised in
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
, and obtained his bachelor's degree in 1968. He also held a Master of Arts degree from
Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...
(1971) and 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. albu ...
from the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
(1975), for which he was awarded the Blackwood Prize. In 1976 he married Martha Bruto

a social anthropologist. While a postgraduate student at Monash in the early 1970s, Macintyre joined the Left Tendency faction of the
Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian political party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been i ...
(CPA), this faction being particularly strong at that campus. His CPA membership lapsed while he was studying in the United Kingdom, and on returning to Australia he joined the
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...
. He thereafter considered himself to be a
democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...
. As an historian he identified with the tradition of labour historians, such as Henry Pelling, who was his doctoral supervisor in Britain.


Academic career

Macintyre had a long academic career both within Australia and internationally. From 1977 to 1978, Macintyre was a research fellow at St John's College at the University of Cambridge. He returned to Australia in 1979 as a lecturer at
Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its n ...
in Perth, and the following year returned to Melbourne, where he lectured at the University of Melbourne until 1981. For a brief subsequent period – 1982–83 – he was a research fellow at the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
in Canberra, and in 1984 he was promoted to senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne. Beginning in 1988, Macintyre served as a
reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
in history at the University of Melbourne. Three years later he became professor, and was given the
Ernest Scott Sir Ernest Scott (21 June 1867 – 6 December 1939) was an Australian historian and professor of history at the University of Melbourne from 1913 to 1936. Early life Scott was born in Northampton, England, on 21 June 1867, the son of Hannah ...
chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
in history. He was appointed dean of the Faculty of Arts in 1999. In 2002 he was made a laureate professor of the University of Melbourne. Macintyre was also a visiting scholar or fellow at Griffith University (1986), the
University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...
, New Zealand (1988), the
University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
(1988), the Australian National University (1991) and the University of Otago, New Zealand (1992). From 1987 to 1996, Macintyre was a member of the council of the
National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...
(NLA) and from 1989 to 1998, a member of the council of the
State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...
(SLV). He also served as chairperson of the Humanities and Creative Arts Panel of the
Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...
(ARC) in 2003. In 2005, Macintyre was outspoken about the actions of the then federal Education Minister
Brendan Nelson Brendan John Nelson (born 19 August 1958) is a business leader and former Australian politician. He served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008, going on to serve as Australia's senior diplomat to the European Union and NA ...
, who personally vetoed several ARC grants which had already been approved by the ARC's
peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
process. Macintyre finished a second term as the dean of arts in mid-2006. For the 2007–08 academic year he held the
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
Chair of Australian Studies, retaining his academic appointment at Melbourne. He served as president of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and the
Australian Society for the Study of Labour History The Australian Society for the Study of Labour History (ASSLH) was founded in 1961 to study 'the working class situation ... and social history in the fullest sense'. Founding members included Asa Briggs, Bob Gollan, Eric Fry, and others. Influen ...
. He was also a
fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.


Publications

As an historian Macintyre was prolific. He published numerous books, including a history of Marxism in the United Kingdom in the early 20th century, based on his doctoral thesis, a history of the
labour movement in Australia The Australian labour movement began in the early 19th century and since the late 19th century has included industrial (Australian unions) and political wings (Australian Labor Party). Trade unions in Australia may be organised (i.e., formed) o ...
, and ''Reds'', the first volume of the history of the Communist Party of Australia; the second volume, ''The Party'', was published posthumously in 2022. Perhaps his most widely known work is ''The History Wars'' (with Anna Clark), a study of the history wars, a public debate about the recent interpretation of various aspects of the
history of Australia The history of Australia is the story of the land and peoples of the continent of Australia. People first arrived on the Australian mainland by sea from Maritime Southeast Asia between 50,000 and 65,000 years ago, and penetrated to all parts ...
. The book was launched by former
Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
Paul Keating, who took the opportunity to criticise conservative views of Australian history, and those who hold them (such as the then current Prime Minister
John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
), saying that they suffered from "a failure of imagination", and said that ''The History Wars'' "rolls out the canvas of this debate". Macintyre's critics, such as Gregory Melleuish (history lecturer at the
University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...
), responded to the book by declaring that Macintyre was a partisan history warrior himself, and that "its primary arguments are derived from the pro-Communist polemics of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
". Keith Windschuttle said that Macintyre attempted to "caricature the history debate" but failed to explain what he meant. Windschuttle has also accused Macintyre of harbouring "a deep distaste" for Australia's British heritage and has criticised Macintyre's involvement in the academic attack against Geoffrey Blainey during the so-called "Blainey affair". In a foreword to ''The History Wars'', former
Chief Justice of Australia The Chief Justice of Australia is the presiding Justice of the High Court of Australia and the highest-ranking judicial officer in the Commonwealth of Australia. The incumbent is Susan Kiefel, who is the first woman to hold the position. Co ...
,
Sir Anthony Mason Sir Anthony Frank Mason HonFAIB DistFRSN (born 21 April 1925) is an Australian judge who served as the ninth Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1987 to 1995. He was first appointed to the High Court in 1972, having previously serv ...
, said that the book was "a fascinating study of the recent endeavours to rewrite or reinterpret the history of European settlement in Australia."


Awards

Macintyre received many awards, including the
Victorian Premier's Literary Award The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary p ...
for Australian Studies in 1986, for his work in authoring the fourth volume of the ''Oxford History of Australia'', and the Redmond Barry Award from the Australian Library and Information Association in 1997, in recognition of his work with the NLA and SLV. His book ''The Reds'' won ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award in 1998. ''The History Wars'' won the 2004 Premier of New South Wales' Australian History Prize. ''Australia's Boldest Experiment'' won the
Ernest Scott Prize Ernest Scott Prize The pre-eminent prize for "original published research that contributes to the history of Australia or New Zealand or to the history of colonisation in these countries." Awarded since 1943, the prize is named in honor of Ernes ...
in 2016 and the 2016 NSW Premier's Australian History Prize. On 26 January 2011, Macintyre was named an
Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
.


Bibliography

* * — (1980). Little Moscows. Communism and working-class Militancy in Inter-war Britain publisher. Croom Helm. * — (1985). Winners and Losers. the Pursuit of Social Justice in Australian History. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0-86861 470 X. * * * * * * * — (2010). The Poor Relation. Melbourne University Press. * * * * * *


References


Further reading

* *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macintyre, Stuart 1947 births 2021 deaths Harvard University faculty Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Australian historians Academics from Melbourne History of Indigenous Australians University of Melbourne alumni Monash University alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Historians of Australia People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne Officers of the Order of Australia Australian socialists