Dame Daphne Helen Purves (née Cowie; 8 November 1908 – 14 October 2008) was a New Zealand educationalist. She was the first New Zealander to serve as president of the

International Federation of University Women Graduate Women International (GWI), originally named the International Federation of University Women (IFUW), is an international organisation for women university graduates. IFUW was founded in 1919 following the First World War by both British and ...

Career

Purves saw education as the key to better conditions for women worldwide; and the passion of her life was the International Federation of University Women of which she was president for three years from 1977. She was a teacher at

Waitaki Girls' High School "Satisfaction from hard work" , established = 1887; years ago , principal = Elizabeth Koni , address = Trent Street, Oamaru, New Zealand , coordinates = , type = State, Girls, Secondary years 9-13 , roll = () , decile ...

Otago Girls' High School , motto_translation = The Right Education Makes The Heart As Strong As Oak , type = State , grades = 9 - 13 , grades_label = Years , gender = Girls-only , established = ; years ago , address = 41 Tennyson Street ...

and

Otago Boys' High School , motto_translation = "The ‘right’ learning builds a heart of oak" , type = State secondary, day and boarding , established = ; years ago , streetaddress= 2 Arthur Street , region = Dunedin , state = Otago , zipcod ...

, and lectured at Dunedin Teachers' College. In the 1979 Queen's Birthday Honours, Purves was appointed a

Dame 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 o ...

, for services to the International and New Zealand Federations of University Women.

Personal life

Daphne Helen Cowie married Herbert Dudley Purves in 1939. She died in hospital on 14 October 2008 aged 99, three weeks short of her 100th birthday, and was survived by her two daughters, Hilary Helen and Elizabeth Celia, and one son, Robert Dudley Purves.Profile
rsnz.org; accessed 1 April 2016. At the time of her death, Purves was New Zealand's oldest living dame.

IFUW Grant

The IFUW offers a Daphne Purves Grant to help women graduates to obtain specialized training and to carry out independent research in any country for
minimum period of two (2) months of work

Biography

''Nothing Like A Dame: A Biography of Dame Daphne Purves'' by Anderson, Molly ()

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purves, Daphne 1908 births 2008 deaths New Zealand Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand activists New Zealand women activists New Zealand educators New Zealand women educators New Zealand feminists New Zealand schoolteachers Graduate Women International