Geoffrey Serle

{{Infobox scholar

| name = Geoffrey Serle

| image =Geoffrey Serle.png

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| caption =Serle in 1946

| birth_date = {{birth date|1922|03|10|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Hawthorn, Victoria

| death_date = {{death date and age|1998|04|27|1922|03|10|df=yes}}

| death_place = Richmond, Victoria

| era =

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| workplaces = Monash University
University of Melbourne

| alma_mater = University of Melbourne (BA [Hons])
University of Oxford (DPhil)

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| main_interests = Australian history
Biography
Colonial Victoria

| principal_ideas =

| major_works = The Golden Age (1963)
The Rush to be Rich (1971)
John Monash (1982)

| awards = Rhodes Scholarship (1947)
Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (1970)
Colin Roderick Award (1971, 1982)
Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (1973)
The Age Non-fiction Award (1982)
Officer of the Order of Australia (1986)

| influences = Percival Serle
Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Max Crawford
Manning Clark

| influenced =

| website =

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}}

Alan Geoffrey Serle {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|AO|FAHA|FASSA}} (10 March 1922 – 27 April 1998), known as Geoff, was an Australian historian, who is best known for his books on the colony of Victoria; The Golden Age (1963) and The Rush to be Rich (1971) and his biographies of John Monash, John Curtin and Robin Boyd.{{Cite web|url=http://john.curtin.edu.au/events/speeches/serlebio.html|title = Biography of Elsie Curtin | JCPML [live]|date = 15 January 2020}}Wallace Kirsop (1998), [http://latrobejournal.slv.vic.gov.au/latrobejournal/issue/latrobe-61/t1-g-t8.html "Library Profile: Geoffrey Serle"], The La Trobe Journal, No 61, Autumn 1998, State Library of Victoria Foundation.

Early life

Serle was born on 10 March 1922, in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn, the son of Percival Serle and Dora, née Hake. He attended Scotch College and briefly read history at the University of Melbourne where he was a resident at Ormond College before joining the Second Australian Imperial Force in 1941. He was seriously wounded in action at Finschhafen, New Guinea. He was discharged in 1944, and resumed study at the University of Melbourne, also being active in the University Labour Club. In 1946, he completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree and won a Rhodes Scholarship. This enabled him to enter University College, Oxford, where he graduated with a doctorate in 1950.{{Cite web |url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/node/54 |title=Geoff Serle - obituary | Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=18 April 2010 |archive-date=16 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616141319/http://adb.anu.edu.au/node/54 |url-status=dead }}

Academic career

From 1950 Serle taught Australian History at the University of Melbourne, and after 1961 was Reader in History at the newly established Monash University. His first book appeared in 1957; The Melbourne Scene was a selection of documents relating to Victoria and was edited with James Grant.Geoffrey Serle and James Grant (1957) The Melbourne Scene 1803–1956. Melbourne University Press

Serle was active in the establishment of the Victorian branch of the Australian Fabian Society and in establishing the Friends of the La Trobe Library in 1966. He was also closely associated with Meanjin and Overland magazines. Serle also edited Volumes 7–11 of the Australian Dictionary of Biography (Volumes 7–10 with Bede Nairn).

John Ritchie's entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography makes pointed reference to Serle's passion for Australia. When Ritchie sent him a letter from London in 1972 "extolling the virtues of England, [Serle] sent a postcard in reply: on one side it had a painting by Tom Roberts, on the other he wrote, aut Australia, aut nihil."Meaning roughly "Either Australia or nothing." Recounted in http://adb.anu.edu.au/node/54 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616141319/http://adb.anu.edu.au/node/54 |date=16 June 2009 }}

Serle was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1986.{{Cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/872561|title=Dr Alan Geoffrey Serle|website=honours.pmc.gov.au|access-date=2019-12-19}}

Personal life

On 12 January 1955 Serle married Jessie Macdonald, an art historian, with whom he had four children: Oenone, Donald, Jamie and Richard.

Serle's background was "middle-class, Protestant and Melburnian". Serle was known in his youth for his sporting prowess and in his middle age for being an "enthusiastic spectator". In John Ritchie's obituary, Serle is described as "incisive and insightful, pragmatic and down-to-earth, left-leaning in his political sympathies without being dogmatic, he was gentle in nature, thoughtful in temperament, egalitarian in outlook, exceptionally hard-working, and a loyal friend. He enjoyed a can of beer, a glass of wine, a cigarette and his pipe. In private life, he succeeded in the three things that matter most, as a son, a husband and a father."{{cite web |title=Alan Geoffrey (Geoff) Serle (1922–1998) |first=John |last=Ritchie |year=2000 |website=Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |url=https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/serle-alan-geoffrey-geoff-13512 |access-date=2023-05-20 }}

Published works

{{cite book |title=The Melbourne Scene 1803–1956|last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |author2=James Grant |author2-link=James Grant (Australian bishop) |year=1957 |publisher=Melbourne University Press|location=Melbourne |author-mask=1}}
{{cite book |title=The Golden Age: A History of the Colony of Victoria 1851–1861|last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |year=1963 |publisher=Melbourne University Press|location=Melbourne |author-mask=1}}
{{cite book |title=The Rush to be Rich|last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |year=1971 |publisher=Melbourne University Press|location=Melbourne |isbn=9780522840094 |author-mask=1}}
{{cite book |title=A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament|last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |author2=Kathleen Thomson |year=1972 |publisher=Australian National University Press|location=Canberra |isbn=9780708107393 |author-mask=1}}
{{cite book |title=From Deserts the Prophets Come: The Creative Spirit in Australia 1788–1972 |last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |year=1973 |publisher=Heinemann |location=Melbourne |isbn=9780855610296 |url=https://archive.org/details/fromdesertsproph0000serl |author-mask=1 |url-access=registration }}
{{cite book |title=John Monash: A Biography|last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |year=1982 |publisher=Melbourne University Press|location=Melbourne |isbn=9780522842395|author-mask=1}}
{{cite book |title=The Creative Spirit in Australia: A Cultural History |last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |year=1987 |publisher=Heinemann |location=Melbourne |isbn=9780855611040 |url=https://archive.org/details/creativespiritin00serl |author-mask=1 |url-access=registration }}
{{cite book |title=Percival Serle 1871–1951, Biographer, Bibliographer, Anthologist and Art Curator: A Memoir|last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |year=1988 |publisher=Officina Brindabella|location=Canberra |isbn=9780909422165|author-mask=1}}
{{cite book |title=Sir John Medley: A Memoir|last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |year=1993 |publisher=Melbourne University Press|location=Melbourne |isbn=9780522845402|author-mask=1}}
{{cite book |title=Robin Boyd: A Life|last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |year=1995 |publisher=Melbourne University Press|location=Melbourne |isbn=9780522846690|author-mask=1}}
{{cite book |title=For Australia and Labor: Prime Minister John Curtin|last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |year=1998 |publisher=John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library|location=Perth |isbn=9781863426558|author-mask=1}}
{{cite book |title=Colin Gilray|last=Serle |first=Geoffrey |year=1999 |publisher=History Department, University of Melbourne|location=Melbourne |author-mask=1}}