Person

Thomson, Donald Finlay Fergusson (1901 - 1970)

OBE

Born
26 June 1901
Brighton, Victoria, Australia
Died
12 May 1970
Eltham, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Anthropologist

Summary

Donald Thomson was Professor of Anthropology, University of Melbourne 1964-1968. He had been associated with the University for many years as a Research Fellow and Associate Professor. He collected and studied widely on the Cape York Peninsula and in Arnhem Land.

Details

Chronology

1928
Career position - Led expedition to Cape York Peninsula in North Queensland
1929
Career position - Led expedition to Cape York Peninsula in North Queensland
1932 - 1933
Career position - Led expedition to Cape York Peninsula in North Queensland
1932 - 1937
Career position - Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne
1935 - 1937
Career position - Led expedition to Arnhem Land
1936
Award - David Syme Research Prize received from the University of Melbourne
1938
Award - Wellcome Gold Medal (London) received
1939 - 1944
Career position - Wing Commander with the Royal Australian Air Force
1945 - 1953
Career position - Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne
1951
Award - Patron's Medal received from the Royal Geographical Society
1952
Award - Lewis Gold Medal received from the Royal Geographical Society of Australia, South Australian branch
1953
Award - Rivers Memorial Medal RAI received, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
1953 - 1964
Career position - Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne
1957
Career position - Led expedition to the Great Sandy and Gibson deserts in central Western Australia
1963
Career position - Led expedition to the Great Sandy and Gibson deserts in central Western Australia
1964 - 1968
Career position - Professor of Anthropology at the University of Melbourne
1965
Career position - Led expedition to the Great Sandy and Gibson deserts in central Western Australia

Related Corporate Bodies

  • The University of Melbourne (1853 - )

    Donald Thomson was Associate Professor (1953 - 1964) then Professor of Anthropology (1964 - 1968) at The University of Melbourne which also awarded him the David Syme Research Prize in 1936.

    Date: c. 1936 - 1964

Archival resources

The University of Melbourne Archives

  • Donald Fergusson Thomson - Records, 1930 - 1970; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

  • Allen, Lindy, 'Tons and Tons of Valuable Material: the Donald Thomson Collection' in The Makers and Making of Indigenous Australian Museum Collections, Peterson, Nicolas, Allen, Lindy and Hamby, Louise, eds (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2008), pp. 387-412. Details
  • Beudel, Saskia, 'Donald Thomson's hybrid expeditions: anthropology, biology and narrative in northern Australia and England' in Expeditionary tnthropology: teamwork, travel and the ‘science of man’, Thomas, Martin; and Harris, Amanda, eds (New York: Bergahn Books, 2018), pp. 95-124. Details
  • Morphy, Howard, 'Thomson, Donald Finlay Ferguson (1901-1970), Anthropologist and Zoologist' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, John Ritchie and Diane Langmore, eds, vol. 16 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002), pp. 385-387. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160467b.htm. Details

Edited Books

  • Dixon, Joan M.; and Huxley, Linda eds, Donald Thomson's mammals and fishes of northern Australia (Melbourne: Thomas Nelson, 1985), 210 pp. Details
  • Rigsby, Bruce and Peterson, Nicolas eds, Donald Thomson, the Man and Scholar (Canberra: Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, 2005), 269 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • 'Obituaries: Donald Fergusson Thomson; Noel Fulford Learmonth;', Emu, 71 (2) (1971), 88-89. Details
  • Fijn, N., 'Donald Thomson: observations of the animal connections in visual ethnography in northern Australia', Ethnos, 86 (1) (2021), 44-68, https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2019.1606024. Details
  • Inglis, Alison, 'Retirement and recollection: Dr Ray Marginson AM and the Donald Thomson Collection', University of Melbourne Collections, 13 (2013), 35-8. Details
  • Thomson, D., 'The dugong hunters of Cape York', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 64 (2) (1934), 237-63. Details

Resources

See also

  • Legge, J. W.; and Gibson, F., 'Victor Martin Trikojus, 1902-1985', Historical Records of Australian Science, 6 (4) (1987), 519-531. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9870640519. Details
  • Leithhead, Barry, A vision for Australia's health: Dr Cecil Cook at work (Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2019), 358 pp. Details
  • Mirtschin, Peter, 'The Pioneers of Venom Production for Australian Antivenoms', Toxicon, 48 (7) (2009), 899-918 . Details

McCarthy, G.J.

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"... the rengitj, as a visible mark or imprint on the land, is characterised as a place of origin, the repository of all names, as well as a kind of mapped visual expression of the connection between people and places which is to be carried out in the temporal sequence of the journey." Fanca Tamisari (1998) 'Body, Vision and Movement: In the footprints of the ancestors'. Oceania 68(4) p260