Susan Magarey

Susan Margaret Magarey (born 23 April 1943) , is an Australian historian and author, most notable for her historic works and biographies of Australian women.

Family The daughter of James Rupert Magarey (1914–1990), later Sir Rupert Magarey, and Catherine Mary Magarey (1918–1989), née Gilbert, Susan Margaret Magarey was born in Brisbane on 23 April 1943.

The first of four children, she has one brother, James (1946–), and two sisters, Catherine (1948–1972), and Mary Elizabeth (1952–).

She married John Christopher Eade in 1966; they divorced in 1977.

Education

Educated at Wilderness School in Adelaideshe was head prefect in 1960she attended both the University of Adelaide and the Australian National University. There, studying history, English literature, and education, Magarey attained the following: B.A.(Hons) – Adelaide (1964) Dip.Ed. – Adelaide (1965) M.A. – ANU (1972) PhD – ANU (1976)

Career 1985–now Founding editor of the international journal Australian Feminist Studies (Routledge)1985–2002 Director of the Research Centre for Women's Studies at the University of Adelaide2002–now Professor Emerita in History at the University of Adelaide

Honours and awards 2006 – Member of the Order of Australia 2005 – Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia 1986 – Walter McRae Russell Award for Unbridling the Tongues of Women, first published 1985

Magarey Medal for biography

The Magarey Medal for biography is a biennial prize with a substantial award. The prize is awarded to the female author who has published the work judged to be the best biographical writing on an Australian subject in the preceding two years. The prize is donated by Susan Magarey.

Prize winners have been: 2004 – Heather Goodall and Isabel Flick, Isabel Flick: the Many Lives of an Extraordinary Aboriginal Woman, Allen and Unwin 2006 – Prue Torney-Parlicki, Behind the News: a Biography of Peter Russo, UWA Press 2008 – Sylvia Martin, Ida Leeson: a Life, Allen and Unwin 2010 – Jill Roe, Stella Miles Franklin: a Biography, Fourth Estate 2012 – Sheila Fitzpatrick, My Father's Daughter: Memories of an Australian Childhood, Melbourne University Press 2014 – Fiona Paisley, The Lone Protestor: AM Fernando in Australia and Europe, Aboriginal Studies Press 2016 – Libby Connors, Warrior: A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier, Allen and Unwin 2018 – Alexis Wright, Tracker, Giramondo 2020 – Helen Ennis, Olive Cotton: A Life in Photography, 4th Estate 2022 – Bernadette Brennan, Leaping into Waterfalls: The enigmatic Gillian Mears, Allen and Unwin 2024 – Ann-Marie Priest, My Tongue Is My Own: A life of Gwen Harwood, La Trobe University Press