Sir Zelman Cowen, who has died aged 92, worked to heal the wounds left by the departure of his immediate predecessor as Governor-General of Australia, Sir John Kerr; later he became Provost of Oriel College, Oxford.
Cowen’s appointment as Governor-General in 1977 was, he said, “totally unexpected”. In 1975, to break a stalemate within the government which threatened to bankrupt it, Kerr had controversially used his authority to dismiss the Prime Minister of Australia, Gough Whitlam, and to appoint the Liberal leader, Malcolm Fraser, in his place.
Sir Zelman Cowen with the Prince of Wales on his visit to Australia in 1981
The dismissal provoked outrage (the residents of the street in which Kerr was born reputedly posted him 30 pieces of silver), and Kerr resigned early in December 1977. Cowen, entirely unaware of the resignation, was summoned to Canberra from Brisbane by Fraser and offered the post. He later vividly described his shock at the proposal, recalling: “My head was like a split atom.” He was sworn in as Australia’s 19th Governor-General on December 8 1977.
Cowen regarded the role as being “to interpret the nation to itself”. Asked shortly after his appointment what he hoped to achieve in the post, he quoted the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, replying that he wanted to “bring a touch of healing” to the office. He was widely regarded as succeeding in this aim, and was asked to serve a further three years when his initial term ended in 1982 (he declined the offer). He cited representing Australia at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, and at the funeral of Lord Mountbatten, as two of the highlights of his tenure.
He also enjoyed telling the story of his aunt, who, hospitalised during his tenure with a head injury and unable to remember her address, firmly told doctors, in a thick eastern European accent, one fact of which she was sure: “My nephew is Governor-General of Australia”. The doctors, convinced that she was delirious, refused to release her until this was confirmed by Cowen’s cousin.
Zelman Cowen was born in St Kilda, Melbourne, on October 7 1919, the son of Russian immigrants whose families had fled to Australia to escape persecution. He was educated first at St Kilda synagogue, then at Brighton Road State School, and finally at Scotch College in Victoria, where he was Dux (Head) of School. The headmistress at Brighton Road recalled Zelman’s frequent visits to her office to show off a piece of work, each trip ending with his asking her: “Aren’t I wonderful?”
During his teenage years he paid close attention to events in Europe and to the arrival of the first German refugees in Australia. He remembered the culture shock they caused, and the hostile reception they received from some in Australian society. Many years later, Justice Michael Kirby said that Cowen had “felt an obligation to stand up against fascism and to interpret its evils, on a human level, to Australian school friends for whom it all seemed so far away”. The refugees, Cowen believed, “added a valuable cultural strain to Australian life”.
Cowen studied Arts and Law at the University of Melbourne, and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1940. His studies, however, were postponed by the Second World War, during which he served as a naval intelligence officer; he survived the Japanese attack on Darwin in 1942. After the war he moved to New College, Oxford, to resume his studies, revelling in “the blazing richness of life, in intellectual and cultural terms” that the University offered. In 1947 he became a Fellow of Oriel, a position which he held until 1951, when he returned to Melbourne to become Professor of Public Law .
He presided over a revolution in Australian legal education, characterised by the use of full-time teachers, the introduction of the American casebook system, and closer ties with American law schools. During these years he also advised the British Colonial Office on constitutional matters, and advised the governments of Hong Kong and China on legal issues.
From 1966 to 1970 he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales and, from 1970 to 1977, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Queensland. During his time in the latter post, Cowen gained praise for the “firmness and dignity” of his handling of issues arising from growing student radicalism and discontent over the Vietnam War. He was also Emeritus Professor of Law at Melbourne and the Tagore Professor of Law at the University of Calcutta.
He was appointed CMG in 1968 and knighted in 1976. He was appointed GCMG and a Knight of the Order of Australia in 1977, and GCVO in 1980.
Long before his appointment as Governor-General, Cowen had written the biography of Australia’s only other Jewish Governor-General (and the first Australian to hold the post), Sir Isaac Isaacs. He regarded his own commitment to tolerance and freedom as stemming in part from his Jewish roots, and stressed: “I have been conscious all my life of being a Jew. I have been conscious all my life of being a sharer in and a lover of the non-Jewish British world, but my Jewishness is deep i n me.”
He became a patron of the Council of Christians and Jews, the Jewish Museum of Australia, and the Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also a governor of the Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University and the Weizman Institute of Science. Two of his sons adopted ultra-Orthodox Judaism, which came as something of a surprise to their more progressive father; but, as he gladly admitted, the diversity within the family “makes for interesting conversat ions”.
After retiring as Governor-General, Cowen remained active in Australian political life, especially in the debate over whether or not Australia should move towards becoming a republic, an idea which he supported in principle as “an evolutionary decision ... not a matter of disloyalty or disassociation”, though he disliked the anti-British sentiment that often went w ith it.
He served for five years on the board of Fairfax newspapers, publishers of the Sydney Morning Herald, including three as chairman, and became a patron of St Kilda football club. Cowen also returned to Oriel, as Provost, between 1982 and 1990. Shortly after he left he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, but he remained intellectually active, considering that he had lived “a long and interesting life in a good and free country”.
He married, in 1945, Anna Wittner, with whom he had three sons and a daughter.
Sir Zelman Cowen, born October 7 1919, died December 8 2011
Cowen studied Arts and Law at the University of Melbourne, and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1940. His studies, however, were postponed by the Second World War, during which he served as a naval intelligence officer; he survived the Japanese attack on Darwin in 1942. After the war he moved to New College, Oxford, to resume his studies, revelling in “the blazing richness of life, in intellectual and cultural terms” that the University offered. In 1947 he became a Fellow of Oriel, a position which he held until 1951, when he returned to Melbourne to become Professor of Public Law .
He presided over a revolution in Australian legal education, characterised by the use of full-time teachers, the introduction of the American casebook system, and closer ties with American law schools. During these years he also advised the British Colonial Office on constitutional matters, and advised the governments of Hong Kong and China on legal issues.
From 1966 to 1970 he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales and, from 1970 to 1977, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Queensland. During his time in the latter post, Cowen gained praise for the “firmness and dignity” of his handling of issues arising from growing student radicalism and discontent over the Vietnam War. He was also Emeritus Professor of Law at Melbourne and the Tagore Professor of Law at the University of Calcutta.
He was appointed CMG in 1968 and knighted in 1976. He was appointed GCMG and a Knight of the Order of Australia in 1977, and GCVO in 1980.
Long before his appointment as Governor-General, Cowen had written the biography of Australia’s only other Jewish Governor-General (and the first Australian to hold the post), Sir Isaac Isaacs. He regarded his own commitment to tolerance and freedom as stemming in part from his Jewish roots, and stressed: “I have been conscious all my life of being a Jew. I have been conscious all my life of being a sharer in and a lover of the non-Jewish British world, but my Jewishness is deep i n me.”
He became a patron of the Council of Christians and Jews, the Jewish Museum of Australia, and the Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also a governor of the Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University and the Weizman Institute of Science. Two of his sons adopted ultra-Orthodox Judaism, which came as something of a surprise to their more progressive father; but, as he gladly admitted, the diversity within the family “makes for interesting conversat ions”.
After retiring as Governor-General, Cowen remained active in Australian political life, especially in the debate over whether or not Australia should move towards becoming a republic, an idea which he supported in principle as “an evolutionary decision ... not a matter of disloyalty or disassociation”, though he disliked the anti-British sentiment that often went w ith it.
He served for five years on the board of Fairfax newspapers, publishers of the Sydney Morning Herald, including three as chairman, and became a patron of St Kilda football club. Cowen also returned to Oriel, as Provost, between 1982 and 1990. Shortly after he left he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, but he remained intellectually active, considering that he had lived “a long and interesting life in a good and free country”.
He married, in 1945, Anna Wittner, with whom he had three sons and a daughter.
Sir Zelman Cowen, born October 7 1919, died December 8 2011
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