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y separately published work icon Germaine : The Life of Germaine Greer single work   biography  
Issue Details: First known date: 2018... 2018 Germaine : The Life of Germaine Greer
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'As a student in Melbourne, Elizabeth Kleinhenz heard frequent talk of this almost mythical figure, Germaine Greer. Urged on by her mother, a first wave feminist, she read The Female Eunuch, a clarion call that rallied women to assert their female power, and, like her mother and millions of others across the world, changed her life.

'As one of the first researchers permitted to trawl through the Germaine Greer Archive housed at the University of Melbourne, Elizabeth found evidence of a brilliant teacher, serious scholar, flamboyantly attired hippie TV presenter, provocative magazine columnist and editor, real estate investor, domestic goddess, creator of extravagant gardens and preserves, shelterer of strays and waifs, libertarian, bohemian, anarchist, working journalist, correspondent, traveller and adventurer, international celebrity and performer, wag and ratbag, mentor and icon.

'Germaine Greer has said that her archive is a representation of the times in which she has lived. Yet she anticipated, catalysed and triumphantly rode the wave of the immense social and intellectual changes of her era. For Elizabeth, two things are certain: women’s lives today are very different from how they were when Germaine Greer and she left school; and much of the change that has occurred over the past half-century can be directly attributed to the lifetime of intense scholarship, unremitting hard work and influence of Germaine Greer.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Scribe ,
      2019 .
      image of person or book cover 1176947645731297446.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 480p.
      Note/s:
      • Published: 2nd April 2019
      ISBN: 9781947534780

Other Formats

  • Large print.
  • Dyslexic edition.
  • Sound recording.

Works about this Work

Three Lively Feminist Lives Rosa Campbell , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Lilith , January no. 26 2020; (p. 239-246)

— Review of Germaine : The Life of Germaine Greer Elizabeth Kleinhenz , 2018 single work biography ; Winning for Women : A Personal Story Iola Mathews , 2019 single work autobiography ; Unfettered and Alive : A Memoir Anne Summers , 2018 single work autobiography
'These three books chronicle the lives of Australian feminists Germaine Greer, Iola Mathews and Anne Summers. By way of brief introduction: Summers is one of Australia’s best-known feminists. She was part of the collective that founded Elsie, the first women’s refuge in Australia, and in 1975 she authored the Australian feminist classic Damned Whores and God’s Police.Summers also worked as a journalist in Australia and internationally, and as a political advisor at the highest level of government to improve the lives of Australian women. Unfettered and Alive is the second volume of her autobiography, which begins in 1976 where her first, Ducks on the Pond (1999), ends. Iola Mathews started her career as a journalist at The Age and was one of the founding members of the Women’s Electoral Lobby (WEL), an organisation that sought reform of party politics along feminist lines. She also worked at the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) where she pursued equal pay and paid parental leave. Germaine Greer wrote what is sometimes called ‘the classic text of the [women’s] movement’ The Female Eunuch (1970) and is a global celebrity, thinker and provocateur.' (Introduction)
‘Overwhelmed by the Archive? Considering the Biographies of Germaine Greer’ Margy Burn , 2020 single work essay
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , April no. 3 2020; (p. 139)
'Germaine Greer is one of the few living Australians to have been the subject of two biographies, the first, by Christine Wallace, published in 1997 and the 2018 volume by Elizabeth Kleinhenz. Wallace took time out of working as a journalist to research and write her biography. After publishing a biography of historian Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Kleinhenz was inspired to turn to another source in the University of Melbourne Archives, the newly acquired archive of Germaine Greer. For her landmark biography, Wallace interviewed many people who knew Greer, including her mother Peggy, and also the friends, lovers and other feminists willing to speak to her. Wallace read all she could locate that Greer had written or was written about her; in the pre-internet days aided by her access to newspaper clippings libraries. She also searched for traces of Greer in archives including at Sydney and Melbourne universities and the Star of the Sea convent. Kleinhenz acknowledges her debt to Wallace, whom she quotes extensively. She revisits many of the same secondary sources and interviews some friends and acquaintances, including students and teachers from Greer’s school. For more than a year Kleinhenz ‘delved into’ the Greer archive at the University of Melbourne.' (Introduction)
Saint Germaine Susan Lever , 2018 single work review
— Appears in: Inside Story , December 2018;

— Review of Germaine : The Life of Germaine Greer Elizabeth Kleinhenz , 2018 single work biography
'Elizabeth Kleinhenz explores the contradictions of Australia’s most famous feminist' 
y separately published work icon A Conversation with Elizabeth Kleinhenz Chris Gordon (interviewer), Melbourne : Readings , 2018 23468625 2018 single work podcast interview

'Hear our events manager Chris Gordon in conversation with Elizabeth Kleinhenz about her new biography, Germaine: The Life of Germaine Greer.'  (Production summary)

Unfinished Business : The Lives of Two Influential Feminists Zora Simic , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 407 2018; (p. 12-13)

'When Anne Summers first met Germaine Greer at a raucous house party in Balmain in the early 1970s, she threw up in front of her after too many glasses of Jim Beam. Almost fifty years later, she muses that perhaps that early encounter was one of the reasons why they ‘never really connected’. After reading Summers’ latest memoir, Unfettered and Alive, in tandem with Elizabeth Kleinhenz’s Germaine: The life of Germaine Greer, I can think of a few others.'  (Introduction)

Three Lively Feminist Lives Rosa Campbell , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Lilith , January no. 26 2020; (p. 239-246)

— Review of Germaine : The Life of Germaine Greer Elizabeth Kleinhenz , 2018 single work biography ; Winning for Women : A Personal Story Iola Mathews , 2019 single work autobiography ; Unfettered and Alive : A Memoir Anne Summers , 2018 single work autobiography
'These three books chronicle the lives of Australian feminists Germaine Greer, Iola Mathews and Anne Summers. By way of brief introduction: Summers is one of Australia’s best-known feminists. She was part of the collective that founded Elsie, the first women’s refuge in Australia, and in 1975 she authored the Australian feminist classic Damned Whores and God’s Police.Summers also worked as a journalist in Australia and internationally, and as a political advisor at the highest level of government to improve the lives of Australian women. Unfettered and Alive is the second volume of her autobiography, which begins in 1976 where her first, Ducks on the Pond (1999), ends. Iola Mathews started her career as a journalist at The Age and was one of the founding members of the Women’s Electoral Lobby (WEL), an organisation that sought reform of party politics along feminist lines. She also worked at the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) where she pursued equal pay and paid parental leave. Germaine Greer wrote what is sometimes called ‘the classic text of the [women’s] movement’ The Female Eunuch (1970) and is a global celebrity, thinker and provocateur.' (Introduction)
Saint Germaine Susan Lever , 2018 single work review
— Appears in: Inside Story , December 2018;

— Review of Germaine : The Life of Germaine Greer Elizabeth Kleinhenz , 2018 single work biography
'Elizabeth Kleinhenz explores the contradictions of Australia’s most famous feminist' 
Unfinished Business : The Lives of Two Influential Feminists Zora Simic , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 407 2018; (p. 12-13)

'When Anne Summers first met Germaine Greer at a raucous house party in Balmain in the early 1970s, she threw up in front of her after too many glasses of Jim Beam. Almost fifty years later, she muses that perhaps that early encounter was one of the reasons why they ‘never really connected’. After reading Summers’ latest memoir, Unfettered and Alive, in tandem with Elizabeth Kleinhenz’s Germaine: The life of Germaine Greer, I can think of a few others.'  (Introduction)

‘Overwhelmed by the Archive? Considering the Biographies of Germaine Greer’ Margy Burn , 2020 single work essay
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , April no. 3 2020; (p. 139)
'Germaine Greer is one of the few living Australians to have been the subject of two biographies, the first, by Christine Wallace, published in 1997 and the 2018 volume by Elizabeth Kleinhenz. Wallace took time out of working as a journalist to research and write her biography. After publishing a biography of historian Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Kleinhenz was inspired to turn to another source in the University of Melbourne Archives, the newly acquired archive of Germaine Greer. For her landmark biography, Wallace interviewed many people who knew Greer, including her mother Peggy, and also the friends, lovers and other feminists willing to speak to her. Wallace read all she could locate that Greer had written or was written about her; in the pre-internet days aided by her access to newspaper clippings libraries. She also searched for traces of Greer in archives including at Sydney and Melbourne universities and the Star of the Sea convent. Kleinhenz acknowledges her debt to Wallace, whom she quotes extensively. She revisits many of the same secondary sources and interviews some friends and acquaintances, including students and teachers from Greer’s school. For more than a year Kleinhenz ‘delved into’ the Greer archive at the University of Melbourne.' (Introduction)
y separately published work icon A Conversation with Elizabeth Kleinhenz Chris Gordon (interviewer), Melbourne : Readings , 2018 23468625 2018 single work podcast interview

'Hear our events manager Chris Gordon in conversation with Elizabeth Kleinhenz about her new biography, Germaine: The Life of Germaine Greer.'  (Production summary)

Last amended 28 Apr 2020 13:00:31
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