Melian Stawell

Melian Stawell
Born
Florence Melian Stawell

(1869-05-02)2 May 1869
Kew, Melbourne, Colony of Victoria
Died9 June 1936(1936-06-09) (aged 67)
Headington, Oxford, England
Occupationsyllabic writer
FatherSir William Stawell
RelativesRichard Rawdon Stawell (brother)
Academic background
Education

Florence Melian Stawell (2 May 1869 – 9 June 1936), also known as F. M. Melian and F. Melian, was an Australian classical scholar, internationalist campaigner and writer, active in England.[1][2][3]

Biography

Stawell was born Florence Melian Stawell on 2 May 1869 in Kew, Melbourne to Sir William Stawell, a lawyer and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, and Mary Frances Elizabeth Stawell (née Greene).[2][3][4] Both of Stawell's parents were born in Ireland to Anglo-Irish ascendancy families.[2][4] The ninth of ten siblings, Stawell was the younger sister of the physician Richard Rawdon Stawell.[2][3][5]

At her father's preference Stawell was known by her middle name, Melian, which had been held by three previous women in her paternal family.[2] Raised at D'Estaville, the family travelled to Europe in 1873.[2] Her father returned to Australia in 1875, whilst Stawell remained in Europe with her mother, some of her siblings and a governess until 1877.[2] During this period Stawell travelled across in France, Switzerland, Italy and Britain.[2] Upon returning to Australia, Stawell was educated at home and began to study Greek.[2]

In 1886, Stawell became one of the first female residents at Trinity College, Melbourne.[2] Studying classics, Stawell received individual instruction in Greek from Alexander Leeper.[2][6] During this period, Stawell campaigned for the creation of a separate non-denominational women's college.[2] In 1888, Stawell decided not to complete her degree and instead enrolled at Newnham College, Cambridge in May 1889.[2][3]

Newspaper photograph and Cambridge Classical Tripos results of Florence Stawell, 1892.

In 1911, she offered an interpretation of the Phaistos Disc as Homeric Greek, syllabic writing. Stawell was a member of the Society for Psychical Research.[7]

On 9 June 1936, Stawell died in Headington, Oxford aged 67.[2][3]

References

  1. ↑ Sluga, Glenda (2021). "From F. Melian Stawell to E. Greene Balch: International and Internationalist Thinking at the Gender Margins, 1919–1947". In Rietzler, Katharina; Owens, Patricia (eds.). Women's International Thought: A New History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 223–243. doi:10.1017/9781108859684.015. hdl:2123/25569. ISBN 978-1-108-49469-4. S2CID 234251823. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rood, Tim (13 August 2026). "Stawell, (Florence) Melian (1869–1936), classical scholar and internationalist campaigner". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.95624. Retrieved 18 August 2026. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 McKay, K. J. (1990). "Florence Melian Stawell (1869–1936)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 12. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 Geoghegan, Patrick M. (October 2009). "Stawell, Sir William Foster". Dictionary of Irish Biography (online ed.). Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.008267.v1. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  5. ↑ Martin, F. I. R. (1990). "Sir Richard Rawdon Stawell (1864–1935)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 12. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  6. ↑ Markwell, Donald (2007). "Melian Stawell and Collegiate Education". In Daniel, Carolyn (ed.). 'A Large and Liberal Education': Higher Education for the 21st Century. Melbourne, Victoria: Australian Scholarly Publishing; Trinity College, University of Melbourne. pp. 105–108.
  7. ↑ Woolf, Virginia; Bell, Anne Olivier. The Diary of Virginia Woolf: 1915-1919. Hogarth Press. p. 190
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