Bage, Anna Frederika (1883 - 1970)

Anna Bage was a talented scientist who worked her way through the junior ranks of the Department of Biology at the University of Melbourne to became a forerunner of women in public life in Queensland to where she moved in 1914 to take up the position of lecturer in charge of biology in 1913. In 1914 she became principal of the Women's College, a position she held for the next 32 years. She was committed to the cause of encouraging women to become tertiary educated and travelled widely throughout Queensland to promote her college to rural communities. She was a member of many women's interest groups, and played a lead rolein the formation of the Queensland Women Graduates' Association (later the Queensland Association of University Women). She was president of the Australian Federation of University Women in 1928-29.

Anna Bage's interests were many and varied. A nature lover, patron of the arts and motoring enthusiast, Bage was also a member of several women's sporting associations.She managed the first hockey team in Australia to travel interstate, from Melbourne to Adelaide in 1908, and was president of the Queensland Women's Hockey Association in 1925-31.

She was appointed OBE - Officer of The Order of the British Empire (Civil) - 12 June 1941 for public service.

Chronology

1905	Graduated BSc from the University of Melbourne
1906	Graduated MSc with second-class honours from the University of Melbourne
1906	Final honour scholarship in Biology
1906 - 1909	Junior demonstrator in biology at the University of Melbourne
1907	Awarded the McBain Research Scholarship
1908	Awarded the Victorian Government Research Scholarship
1910 - 1911	Research student at King's College, London
1912	Senior demonstrator in biology at the University of Melbourne
1913	Senior lecturer in biology at the University of Queensland
1914 - 1918	President of the Women of the University's War Work Group at the University of Queensland
1914 - 1946	Principal of the Women's College at the University of Queensland
1915	President of the Field Naturalists' Club
1916	President of the Women's Club, Brisbane
1917	Member of the National Council of Women of Queensland Recruiting committee
1922 - 1923	President of the Lyceum Club, Brisbane
1923 - 1949	Member of the Senate at the University of Queensland
1925 - 1931	President of the Queensland Women's Hockey Association
1926	Substitute delegate to the League of Nations Assembly, Geneva
1928 - 1929	President of the Australian Federation of University Women
1938	Substitute delegate to the League of Nations Assembly, Geneva
1939 - 1945	President of the Women of the University's War Work Group at the University of Queensland
12 June 1941	Appointed Office to the Order of the British Empire
26 April 1951	Conferred an honorary doctorate of laws by the University of Queensland

Membership

• Lyceum Club (Melbourne) (1912 - )

Presided

• Australian Federation of University Women Inc. (1922 - )

  [1928 - 1929]

Secretary

• National Council of Women of Queensland (1905 - )

Book Sections

• Bell, Jacqueline, 'Bage, Anna Frederika (1883-1970), university teacher', in Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 7, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Victoria, 1979, pp. 131-132. [ Details... ]

Online Resources

• 'Bage, Anna Frederika (1883 - 1970), Biographical Entry', in Bright Sparcs, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 2002, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P000984b.htm. [ Details... ]

See also

• Alexander, Joseph A (ed.), Who's who in Australia 1950, 14th edn, The Herald, Melbourne, 1950, 816 pp. [ Details... ]
• Australian National University, Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au. [ Details... ]
• Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 'Where are the Women in Australian science?', 22 August 2003, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/wisa/wisa.html. [ Details... ]
• Kelly, Farley, Degrees of liberation : a short history of women in the University of Melbourne, Women Graduates Centenary Committee, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., 1985, 172 pp. [ Details... ]