David Unaipon

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David Unaipon

David Unaipon (born September 28, 1872 in Raukkan on Point Mcleay near the Murray River , † February 7, 1967 in Tailem Bend ) was an Aboriginal of the Ngarrindjeri tribe, an inventor, writer and political activist and speaker for the rights of the Aboriginal. He was the first Aboriginal to write and publish a book. His portrait has been on Australia 's $ 50 bill since 1995 .

Life

Unaipon researched and sought to improve Aboriginal health care and advised the Australian government of its responsibility for Aboriginal lives. He was married to Katherine Carter, a woman of the Tangani tribe. He returned to his place of birth in old age and died in Tailem Bend Hospital on February 7, 1967. He was buried in the cemetery of the Raukkan Mission. The FAW Patricia Weickhardt Award has been named after him since 1985. The University of Queensland has been presenting the David Unaipon Award since 1988 , as well as a prize for outstanding Aboriginal writers.

plant

His most famous books that he published were Aboriginal Legends in 1927, Native Legends in 1929, and Myths and Legends of the Australian Aboriginals from 1930, which was not published under his name and without his permission. He has written numerous articles in journals and magazines, such as the Sydney Daily Telegraph , on Aboriginal traditions and rights. More of his writings have not yet been published. Some of them rest in the magazines of the Mitchell Library (State Library) of New South Wales .

He held several patents , including one since 1909 for electric sheep shears . Due to financial difficulties, he could not use his patents economically and was referred to as the Leonardo of Australia, because he experimented with the boomerang and wanted to develop an airworthy helicopter using this turning principle like Leonardo da Vinci .

50 dollar note

Illustration of Unaipon on the 50 dollar note

Unaipon's family points out that the Federal Bank of Australia printed his portrait on the $ 50 bill without the family's permission.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Didj "u" know stories @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.abc.net.au
  2. ↑ http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/indigenous/unaipon/unaipon.html Illustration of the sheep shearer
  3. ↑ "Family wants compo for $ 50 note image" , Larine Statham, AAP 27 November, 2008
personal data
SURNAME Unaipon, David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian writer, inventor and political activist
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Raukkan , Australia
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 1967
Place of death Tailem Bend , Australia