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, University of Melbourne
- 1935 - 1937
- Career position - Led expedition to Arnhem Land
- 1936
- Award - David Syme Research Prize, University of Melbourne
- 1938
- Award - Wellcome Gold Medal (London)
- 1939 - 1944
- Military service - Second World War. Wing Commander with the Royal Australian Air Force, and with the Army [in Northern Australia and New Guinea]
- 1945 - 1953
- Career position - Research Fellow, University of Melbourne
- 1951
- Award - Patron's Medal, Royal Geographical Society
- 1952
- Award - John Lewis Gold Medal, Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch
- 1953
- Award - Rivers Memorial Medal RAI, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
- 1953 - 1964
- Career position - Associate Professor, 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, University of Melbourne
- 1965
- Career position - Led expedition to the Great Sandy and Gibson deserts in central Western Australia
Related entries
Wife
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, 'The Donald Thomson Collection' in A Museum for the people: a History of Museum Victoria and its predecessor institutions, 1854-2000, Rasmussen, Carolyn, ed. (Carlton North, Vic.: Scribe Publications, 2001), pp. 282-4. Details
- 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 anthropology: 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, volume 16: 1940 - 1980 Pik-Z, John Ritchie and Diane Langmore, eds (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
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q3036103. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/27165528. Details
- CA 778, Air Services Branch; CA 35, Department of Air, Central Office, 'NAA: A9300, THOMSON D F', A9300 RAAF Officers Personnel files, 1921-1948, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=5256533. Details
- 'Thomson, Donald F (1901-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-617269. Details
See also
- Jones, Ross L.; Farley, Simon, 'Indigenous knowledge' in Dhoombak goobgoowana: a history of Indigenous Australia and the University of Melbourne - Volume 1: The Truth, Ross L. Jones, James Waghorne and Marcia Langton, eds (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 2024), pp. 311-321, https://www.mup.com.au/books/dhoombak-goobgoowana-paperback-softback. Details
- 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.
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 4 October 2010
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education