Anne Godfrey-Smith

Anne Godfrey-Smith (30 November 1921 – 15 June 2011) was an Australian poet, theatre director and women's activist.

Early life and education Godfrey-Smith was born on 30 November 1921 in Launceston, Tasmania. Her mother, Margaret Edgeworth McIntyre (née David), was the first woman to be elected to the Tasmanian parliament. Her father, William Keverall McIntyre, practised as an obstetrician.

Her education began in Launceston at Broadland House Church of England Girls Grammar School, but from 1935 to 1938 she was sent to board at Frensham School in Mittagong, New South Wales.

Career In the 1940s, she worked as a pathologist at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital. Following her marriage, she and her husband, Rowland Anthony (Tony) Godfrey-Smith, moved to Launceston In the late 1950s she married Robert Johnson and at the end of 1958 she resigned from Canberra Repertory Society.

In 1975, Godfrey-Smith was appointed by the National Youth and Children's Performing Arts Association to conduct an Australia-wide survey of young people and the performing arts, producing a detailed report on her findings in late 1977.

In the 1980s, she served on the Theatre Board of the Australia Council and in 1986 was appointed to the ACT Arts Development Board.

Honours and recognition Godfrey-Smith was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 1980 New Year Honours "for service to theatre". She was ACT Citizen of the Year in 1994,

Death and legacy Godfrey-Smith died in Narrabundah on 15 June 2011. She was survived by her two sons, Anthony ("Tony") Godfrey-Smith and William Grey. The Anne Edgeworth Fellowship has been administered by the ACT Writers Centre, which Godfrey-Smith was actively involved with when it was established in 1994. and continues to collaborate with the Anne Edgeworth Trust in supporting the Fellowship.

Works

Poetry

Prose

National Library holdings