image of person or book cover 4021964808676695978.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
Issue Details: First known date: 2012... 2012 The Lone Protestor : A M Fernando in Australia and Europe
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'The late 1920s saw an extraordinary protest by an Australian Aboriginal man on the streets of London. Standing outside Australia House, cloaked in tiny skeletons, Anthony Martin Fernando condemned the failure of British rule in his country.

'Fernando is believed to be the first Aboriginal person to protest conditions in Australia from the streets of Europe. His various forms of action, from pamphlets on the streets of Rome to the famous Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, distinguish this lone protestor as a unique Aboriginal activist of his time.

'Drawn from an extensive search in archives from Australia and Europe, this is the first full-length study of Fernando and the self-professed mission that was to last half of his adult life.

'Paisley brings to light new episodes in Fernando's activist career as well as previously unknown details about his extraordinary life in Australia and overseas. Her account dramatically shifts our understanding of the international reach of Aboriginal protest in this era.' (From the publisher's website.)

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Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,: Aboriginal Studies Press , 2012 .
      image of person or book cover 4021964808676695978.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: xx, 226p., [16]p. of platesp.
      Description: illus., facsims, 1 map, ports
      Note/s:
      • Includes bibliographical references and index.
      ISBN: 9781922059055 (pbk.)

Works about this Work

Australian Poets in the Countries of Others Louis Klee , 2024 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Cambridge Companion to Australian Poetry 2024; (p. 252-273)

'The chapter outlines the mid-twentieth century debate over an Athenian-Boeotian divide in Australian literature, which extended an earlier false dichotomy between city and the bush through distinguishing between the expatriate and the writer who stays at home. Despite a global dispersion of Australian writers, it argues that most scholarship has tended to focus on those in Britain. The chapter discerns that the racialisation underscoring who is generally considered ‘expatriate’ renders the term problematic and that many Australian diasporic poets define themselves through other means. It also finds that many experience feelings of shame, anger, and guilt over the colonial violence shaping Australia. The chapter considers the development of Lola Ridge’s poetics while in Australia before considering Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s poem “Yussef (Hi-Jack),” written during a hijacking of her plane by Palestinian militants, and the poetry Oodgeroo wrote in China. The chapter foregrounds the significance of First Nations mobility, engaging with the London writing of Aboriginal activist A. M. Fernando in the 1920s and writing of recent poets like Ellen Van Neerven.'

Source: Abstract

[Review Essay] The Lone Protestor : AM Fernando in Australia and Europe Howard Goldenberg , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Aboriginal Studies , no. 2 2014; (p. 117-119)

— Review of The Lone Protestor : A M Fernando in Australia and Europe Fiona Paisley , 2012 single work biography

'Until this book arrived on my desk I had not heard of AM Fernando. Few know of him, either in Australia or elsewhere. While the ‘A’ and the ‘M’ might indeed stand for ‘Anthony Martin’, the name ‘Fernando’ is moot: it appears likely the man took this name to signal his affection for Italy, where he was treated as a man, a human being. There exists no known contemporaneous likeness — neither photographic nor artistic — of the man.' (Introduction)

Book About Protestor Wins Award 2014 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 30 July no. 581 2014; (p. 45)
'A book documenting the story of the first Indigenous activist to campaign overseas has taken out an award...'
Fiona Paisley's Compelling Book, The Lone Protestor on Little Known Rights Campaigner Anthony Fernando Wins Magarey Medal 2014 single work column
— Appears in: National Indigenous Times , 16 July 2014; (p. 14)
'The Lone Protestor, written by historian Dr Fiona Paisley and pyblished by Aboriginal Studies Press (ASP), has been announced as winner of the 2014 Magarey Medal for Biography.'
Untitled Alison Holland , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , December vol. 37 no. 2013; (p. 175-177)

— Review of The Lone Protestor : A M Fernando in Australia and Europe Fiona Paisley , 2012 single work biography
The Lone Protestor Kate Taperell , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: National Indigenous Times , 30 May no. 266 2012; (p. 40)

— Review of The Lone Protestor : A M Fernando in Australia and Europe Fiona Paisley , 2012 single work biography
[Untitled] Maria Nugent , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , vol. 37 no. 3 2013; (p. 411-412)

— Review of The Lone Protestor : A M Fernando in Australia and Europe Fiona Paisley , 2012 single work biography
Untitled Alison Holland , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , December vol. 37 no. 2013; (p. 175-177)

— Review of The Lone Protestor : A M Fernando in Australia and Europe Fiona Paisley , 2012 single work biography
[Review Essay] The Lone Protestor : AM Fernando in Australia and Europe Howard Goldenberg , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Aboriginal Studies , no. 2 2014; (p. 117-119)

— Review of The Lone Protestor : A M Fernando in Australia and Europe Fiona Paisley , 2012 single work biography

'Until this book arrived on my desk I had not heard of AM Fernando. Few know of him, either in Australia or elsewhere. While the ‘A’ and the ‘M’ might indeed stand for ‘Anthony Martin’, the name ‘Fernando’ is moot: it appears likely the man took this name to signal his affection for Italy, where he was treated as a man, a human being. There exists no known contemporaneous likeness — neither photographic nor artistic — of the man.' (Introduction)

The Stange Tale of Martin Fernando 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Land Rights News , August 2012 vol. 2 no. 2 2012; (p. 28)

— Review of The Lone Protestor : A M Fernando in Australia and Europe Fiona Paisley , 2012 single work biography
'An Aboriginal activist who protested in London more than 80 years ago, wearing a cape sewn with tiny skeletons to symbolise the exploitation of Indigenous Australians, is the subject of a new book...'
One Voice in a Far Land Fran Metcalf , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 16-17 June 2012; (p. 21)
Institute Receives Notes by Man Who Took Indigenous Plight to World Diana Streak , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 19 July 2012; (p. 2)
form y separately published work icon Fernando's Ghost Daniel Browning (interviewer), Australia : ABC Radio National , 2012 Z1877037 2012 single work radio play Indigenous story

He's been described as an Aboriginal prophet - an extraordinary man who dreamt of self-determination, of independent homelands, of rights and political freedom for his countrymen and women and who fought a long, personal war against racism and settler colonialism. (Source: Awaye! website: www.abc.net.au)

Fiona Paisley's Compelling Book, The Lone Protestor on Little Known Rights Campaigner Anthony Fernando Wins Magarey Medal 2014 single work column
— Appears in: National Indigenous Times , 16 July 2014; (p. 14)
'The Lone Protestor, written by historian Dr Fiona Paisley and pyblished by Aboriginal Studies Press (ASP), has been announced as winner of the 2014 Magarey Medal for Biography.'
Book About Protestor Wins Award 2014 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 30 July no. 581 2014; (p. 45)
'A book documenting the story of the first Indigenous activist to campaign overseas has taken out an award...'
Last amended 17 Sep 2019 12:28:25
Subjects:
  • Western Europe, Europe,
  • c
    Australia,
    c
  • London,
    c
    England,
    c
    c
    United Kingdom (UK),
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
  • 1800-1899
  • 1900-1939
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