Colin Tatz AO (18 July 1934 – 19 November 2019) was a South African-Australian academic and public intellectual. He was the director of th
Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
and Professor of Politics at the University of New England, Armidale, and

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Early life

Colin Tatz was born and raised in the inner city suburb of Berea in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

on 18 July 1934 to

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents. He attended Yeoville Boys School, a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

in a then predominantly Jewish

Yeoville Yeoville is an inner city neighbourhood of Johannesburg, in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. It is located in Region F (previously Region 8). Originally intended as a "well-to-do" neighbourhood, it instead developed into a white working ...

in inner-city Johannesburg. He then attended King Edward VII School in the city. He had his

Bar Mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

at Berea Shul. He graduated from the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

in Natal province. He funded his studies by working for the local newspaper, '' The Natal Witness''.The Essential Question
''The Witness''. 5 January 2009 He studied for a master's degree at the University of Natal under

Edgar Brookes Professor Edgar Harry Brookes (4 February 1897 – 22 April 1979) was a British-born South African Liberal Party (South Africa), Liberal senator and South African representative to the League of Nations. He initially supported apartheid but his ...

, concentrating on native administration.

Career

He emigrated to Australia in 1961, at the age of twenty-six. He made the journey with his wife, Sandra, his cousin Doreen and her daughters, including Shira Nayman. In 1964 Tatz received his PhD from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, publishing a thesis entitled Aboriginal Administration.Vale Emeritus Professor Colin Tatz
Australian National University. Retrieved on 7 July 2024 He was later employed at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

as a senior lecturer of politics and sociology. He later had tenures as a politics professor at University of New England and

. From 2011, he was involved with the School of Politics and International Relations at the Australian National University as a visiting fellow, then visiting professor and honorary lecturer. He authored several books and published articles on race

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

, the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

, and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and discrimination in

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

Bibliography

Books * ''Shadow and Substance in South Africa, A Study in Land and Franchise Policies Affecting Africans'', 1910–1960 (1962). * ''Aborigines in the Economy'', edited by Ian Sharp and Colin Tatz (1966). * ''Aborigines and Education'', edited by S.S. Dunn and C.M. Tatz (1969). * ''Black Viewpoints: The Aboriginal Experience'', ed. C.M. Tatz (1975). * ''Race Politics in Australia: Aborigines, Politics and Law'' (1979). * ''Aborigines and Uranium and Other Essays'' (1982). * ''Aborigines in Sport, Australian Society for Sports History'' (1987). * ''The Royal Sydney Golf Club: The First Hundred Years'', with Brian Stoddart (1993). * ''Obstacle Race: Aborigines in Sport'' (1995) – Winner of the Australian Human Rights Award for Non-Fiction. * ''Black Diamonds: The Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame'', with Paul Tatz (1996). * ''Genocide Perspectives I'', editor-in-chief (1997). * ''AFL's Black Stars, with Michael Long'' (1998). * ''One-Eyed: a View of Australian Sport'', with

Douglas Booth Douglas John Booth (born 9 July 1992) is an English actor and musician. He first came to public attention through his performance as Boy George in the BBC Two film ''Worried About the Boy'' (2010). He went on to star in the BBC adaptations of ...

(2000). * ''Black Gold: the Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame'', with Paul Tatz (2000). * ''Aboriginal Suicide is Different: a Portrait of Life and Self-Destruction'' (2001). * ''A Course of History: Monash Country Club, 1931 – 2001'' (2002). * ''Genocide Perspectives II: Essays in Holocaust and Genocide'', eds. Colin Tatz, Peter Arnold and Sandra Tatz (2003). * ''With Intent to Destroy: Reflecting on Genocide'' (2003). * ''Genocide Perspectives III: Essays in Holocaust and Genocide'', eds. Colin Tatz, Peter Arnold and Sandra Tatz (2006). * ''Worlds Apart: the Re-Migration of South African Jews'', with Peter Arnold and Gillian Heller (2007). * ''Genocide in Australia: By Accident or Design?'' (2011). * ''Genocide Perspectives IV: Essays on Holocaust and Genocide'', ed. Colin Tatz (2012). * ''Human Rights and Human Wrongs: A Life Confronting Racism'', Melbourne, Monash University Publishing, 2015, pp 382. * ''The Magnitude of Genocide'', with Winton Higgins, Santa Barbara, CA, Praeger Security International, 2016, pp. 296. * ''Australia's Unthinkable Genocide, Bloomington'', IN, Xlibris., 2017, pp. 272. * ''Black Pearls: The Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame'', with Paul Tatz, Aboriginal Studies Press, 2018. * ''The Sealed Box of Suicide: The Contexts of Self-Death'', with Simon Tatz, Zug, Switzerland: Springer. 2019.

Personal life

In South Africa, he met his wife, Sandra Melmed. They got married at Berea Shul in Berea, an inner city neighbourhood of

. They raised their children together in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Their son, Simon Tatz, was a writer for

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

and a senior adviser to the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

and the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a Left-wing politics, left-wing green party, green Australian List of political parties in Australia, political party. As of 2025, the Greens are the third largest politica ...

.Simon Tatz
ABC News. Retrieved on 7 July 2024

References

Sources

*
Prof. Tatz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatz, Colin 1934 births 2019 deaths People from Johannesburg Australian historians South African historians South African emigrants to Australia Australian Jews Australian National University alumni University of Natal alumni Officers of the Order of Australia South African academics South African Jews Australian academics Academic staff of Macquarie University Academic staff of the University of New England (Australia) Academic staff of Monash University 20th-century South African historians 21st-century South African historians 20th-century Australian historians 21st-century Australian historians Jewish Australian academics Alumni of King Edward VII School (Johannesburg)