We’ve had 5 great weeks studying the plants, animals, and history of Tasmania, but I realized I still don’t really know anything about individual Tasmanians. So I did a bit of googling and came up with some surprising names and fascinating stories.
The current most famous Tasmanian is Mary Donaldson, the Crown Princess of Denmark. Born in Hobart, she met the Prince of Denmark, Frederik, in a pub in Sydney at the 2000 summer olympic games. They exchanged letters and messages online for a year; subsequently Mary moved to Copenhagen at the end of 2001, the couple were engaged in 2003 and married in 2004. They have four children, two boys and two girls. Mary’s political projects and interests include the integration of immigrants and refugees to Danish society, philanthropic and medical support for Uganda and other parts of East Africa, and domestic anti-bullying campaigns based on similar programs implemented in Australia.4
Going further back, Truganini is widely held to be the last full blood Aboriginal Tasmanian. Born on Bruny island just south of Hobart in 1812 to Mangana, the chief of the Bruny Island tribe, Truganini grew up amid growing conflict between aboriginals and the white settlers. As was sadly frequent, in an encounter with loggers Truganini’s fiancée was viciously murdered and Truganini herself was sexually abused multiple times. In 1830 all remaining aboriginals (and there were only 100 by this point) were moved to Flinders Island, where most died of disease. Truganini left a few years later to assist with the relocation of mainland Australian aboriginals. She had a daughter, and then joined an outlaw group of aboriginals, robbing and killing settlers, but was eventually caught and shot in the course of capture. While her male confederates hanged, Truganini was exiled back to Flanders Island, and subsequently to the Hobart area, where she lived until her death in 1876.7
Others include movie star Errol Flynn (near and dear to my heart for Robin Hood), Australian prime minister Joseph Lyons, composer Peter Sculthorpe, cricketers Ricky Ponting, David Boon, and Max Walker, fashion designer Alannah Hill, and 21-time world champion Axeman David Foster. Last but certainly not least is a fascinating man, Deny King, “King of the Wilderness”, who chose to live a life of self-sufficient solitude deep in the wilderness of southwest Tasmania and yet worked closely with scientists and researchers from around the world to help catalogue and preserve many native Tasmanian species and their habitats.
References
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