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Ailsa Thomson Zainuddin

Ailsa Thomson Zainuddin is a writer and scholar who has specialised in the history of education. Born in Melbourne in 1927, Ailsa studied English and history at the University of Melbourne, and received her MA for a thesis entitled ‘The Bulletin and Australian Nationalism’. In 1954, Ailsa travelled to Jakarta under the Volunteer Graduate Scheme, working at the English Language Inspectorate. In 1965 she joined the Faculty of Education, Monash University, where she carried out pioneering work in relation to Southeast Asian history of education, and the history of education for girls and women. Ailsa was awarded a PhD from Monash University in 1983 for her centenary history of Methodist Ladies’ College, Kew, the school she herself attended, and which she maintained an association with for over fifty years. Ailsa’s published works also include A Short History of Indonesia, and an Indonesian cookery book. She retired from Monash in 1992. Ailsa and her husband Zainu’ddin (Minangkabau), whom she married in 1954, have two daughters.


Publications View All

  • Bridges of Friendship

    Ann McCarthy and Ailsa Thomson Zainuddin

Events

Latest Past Events

Book Launch – What the Trees See (Melbourne)

Hill of Content Bookshop Level 2, 86 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Hill of Content Bookshop and Monash University Publishing are delighted to invite you to the launch of: What the Trees See: A Wander Through Millennia of Natural History in Australia...

Book Event: ANU Meet the Author with Isabelle Reinecke (Canberra)

Kambri Cultural Centre 153 University Avenue, Australian National University, Canberra

Isabelle Reinecke will be in conversation with Kim Rubenstein on Courting Power: Law, Democracy & the Public Interest in Australia. In Courting Power, Isabelle Reinecke, founder of public interest litigation incubator Grata...