John McMillan, the man who “could make Economics jump right off the page,” has died from cancer complications aged 56. Born in Christchurch, McMillan taught economics at America’s Stanford Graduate School of Business since 1999. “John in…
Historian, author and Victoria University of Wellington emeritus professor Peter Munz has died aged 85. Born in Chemnitz, Germany, Munz was part of the wave of mostly Jewish intellectuals who fled fascist…
Auckland-born Leo McCarthy, a prominent figure in Californian state politics, has died of a kidney ailment aged 76. A lifelong Democrat, McCarthy was the state assembly speaker from 1974-80 and went on to serve…
NZ Nobel laureate, Alan Graham MacDiarmid, has died in Philadelphia aged 79. Professor MacDiarmid won the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his joint discovery that some plastics could be made to…
Filmmaker, writer and photographer John Patrick Feeney has died in Wellington aged 84. Born in Ngaruawahia and educated at Victoria University, Feeney served as a lieutenant in the Royal NZ Naval Reserve during World…
Former All Black Brian Fitzpatrick has died aged 75. A sturdily built five eigths, Fitzpatrick was a strong runner and tackler. He made two tours with All Black sides in the early…
Walter Hadlee, involved in NZ test cricket from the start has died in Christchurch aged 91. A productive and aggressive batsman, Hadlee played 11 Tests for NZ, eight of those as captain, and later served as national…
Robin Brunskill Cooke, NZ’s most renowned jurist, has died aged 80. Educated at Wellington’s Victoria University and Caius College at Cambridge, Robin Cooke made his reputation early on with a high profile libel case…
The Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu died on Tuesday 15 August aged 75 after a 40-year reign. Dame Te Atairangikaahu was the sixth monarch of the North Island tribes who formed the King movement…
International archery associations and Olympic committees have paid tribute to Neroli Fairhall, who has died aged 61. Fairhall won a gold medal in archery for NZ at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in…
Internationally acclaimed New Zealand pioneering heart surgeon Brian Barratt-Boyes has died aged 82. Educated at Wellington College and Otago University Medical School, Barratt-Boyes battled against bureaucracy for more funding and staff to do what…
Pioneering archaeologist Lady Aileen Fox has died aged 98. Born and educated in England, Lady Fox held a visiting lectureship at Auckland University from 1972 to 1983. She conducted excavations at Tiromoana Pa (where…
NZ liquor innovator, Michael Erceg, was killed in early November when the helicopter he was piloting crashed south of Auckland. As the founder and managing director of Independent Liquor, Erceg was one of the country’s richest people. Grolsch…
NZ lost its last WW1 veteran with the death of Victor “Bob” Rudd aged 104. Born in London in 1901, Rudd served with the British Army’s 9th Lancers regiment in the final…
Group Captain Edward Preston “Hawkeye” Wells, one of the RAF’s most outstanding WWII pilots has died at the age of 89. Born in Cambridge (NZ) on 26 July 1916 and educated at Cambridge High School, Wells was called…
NZ born education pioneer and author Dion “Darcy” Dale has died. Dale devoted his life to the teaching and studying of deaf and partially hearing children. He was particularly prominent in promoting the use of lip…
Wellington born Kristian Fredrikson, one of the most celebrated theater and dance designers in New Zealand and Australia has died in a Sydney Hospital of complications from pneumonia at the age of 65. His career began in Wellington…
NZ has lost an inspiring political figure with the death of Green Party co-leader Rod Donald. Donald died of a rare virus affecting the heart aged just 48. He will be remembered for his…
One of NZ’s most respected Maori artists and pioneer of indigenous art in schools, John Bevan Ford, has died aged 75 from cancer. While tremendously skilled in traditional Maori wood carving, Ford is best perhaps known…
Former Prime Minister David Lange died on Saturday 13 August aged 63 after a long battle with ill health. He was regarded as “the best loved New Zealand political figure of the last 20 years” (Guardian Unlimited). Elected…
NZ’s scientific and business community has lost one of its brightest stars with the death of Pulse Data founder Dr Russell Smith. Smith and his wife, early childhood specialist Marian D’Eve, were both killed when their Cessna…
Former All Black captain, agricultural economist, and leading NZRU administrator – Bob Stuart, OBE – died in May aged 84. Although Stuart’s best playing years were taken up by military service during WW2, he successfully lead NZ…
Owen Wilkes, the New Zealand peace activist and global peace researcher, has died in Hamilton aged 65. In a tribute written from Beijing by Peter Hayes, he said “Owen Wilkes was a profoundly wedded…
Dannevirke-born and controversial seven-times Premier of Queensland Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen has died aged 94. The maverick politician was one of the most colourful but also divisive leaders in Australian political history. He was religiously, socially and politically…
Robert Creeley, who helped transform postwar American poetry by making it more conversational and emotionally direct, has in Odessa, Texas. He was 78. Robert Creeley’s association with New Zealand dates from 1976 when he visited at…
March 26 saw the tragic death by suicide of drummer Paul Hester, Melbourne-born member of seminal NZ bands Split Enz and Crowded House. “We all knew him as an effervescent, vivacious fireball of talent,” said soul singer Renee…
John Ziman, NZ-born scientist and humanist, has died aged 79. “After a brilliant youthful career in physics research he turned increasingly to reflection on the values and societal entanglements of the scientific endeavour as a whole ……
Janet Frame featured in the New York Times as one of many international art world notables to die in 2004, together with Marlon Brando, Ray Charles, Richard Avedon, Julia Child and more. Frame died of cancer on…
Legendary NZ trainer Snow Lupton has died aged 84. Lupton will be best remembered for saddling Kiwi to victory in the 1983 Melbourne Cup. ” an outstanding figure in NZ racing,” said Thoroughbred…
Arthur Lydiard, perhaps history’s premier distance-running coach and one of the first to promote fitness through jogging, has died aged 87, of a heart attack. He had been in the United States for a…
An Independent obituary for Pat Hanly calls him “the jester of modern NZ art … His images – exuberant, colourful, feisty and humorous – reflected the personality of their maker.” The subjects of Hanly’s…
Born in Levin 1916, educated Auckland Grammar, George Silk became a combat photographer for Australian Ministry of Information, covering the battles at close hand in the Middle East, North Africa, Greece and New Guinea. He joined…
Acclaimed author Maurice Shadbolt (72) also passed away this October. Shadbolt burst onto the international scene in 1959 with the publication of his short story collection, The New Zealanders, and is widely regarded as…
The science world – and the Edge community – lost one of its brightest stars with the death of Maurice Wilkins on October 5. Born in NZ in 1916, Wilkins was awarded the Nobel…
NZ’s first women’s Test cricket captain, Ruth Martin, died in Christchurch aged 90. Martin (then Ruth Symons) led NZ in their inaugural Test match, against England 1934-5. The Ruth Martin Cup is presented annually…
Obituaries for Auckland-born British Conservative MP, Sir Trevor Skeet, appeared in both the Independent and Guardian. Independent: “Academia in Britain has been vastly enriched by the infusion of talent from NZ, of whom Ernest Rutherford is…
Eminent lexicographer Robert W Burchfield has died aged 81. The Wanganui-born scholar rose to fame as editor of the 4-volume Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary. The massive undertaking took nearly 30 years to complete -…
The death of ground-breaking NZ filmmaker Mike Walker was noted in the Scotsman, Miami Herald, and LA Times. Walker worked asa director, co-producer and co-writer on the films Kingi’s Story, Kingpin and…
Haere atu koutou hei whetu te rangi, tiaho mai mo ake tonu atu. He tohu aroha ki tenei morehu kuia. Rahera Windsor, spiritual leader of Britain’s Maori community, died May 3rd 2004 Born in Pupuke, 1925, she married…
Pioneering criminologist and novelist, Norval Morris, has died in Chicago aged 80. Born in Auckland, Morris studied in Australia, France, and England before embarking on his 30-year academic career at the University of Chicago…
NZ-born BBC sports producer and director, Malcolm Kemp, has died aged 57 of cancer. Kemp’s illustrious career saw him executive produce seven Grand Nationals, the 1994 football World Cup and 1996 European Cup, and…
NZ mourns the loss of its preeminent cultural historian, Michael King. The author of 34 books – including the groundbreaking autobiographical work Being Pakeha and acclaimed biographies of Dame Whina Cooper, Hone Tuwhare, and…
20 March 2004 – Martin Emond, internationally renowned comic-book artist, illustrator, and tattooist, died in LA on March 19 aged 34. Emond created the popular character Switchblade (star of NZ clothing brand Illicit) and…
17 March 2004 – William Pickering, one of the leading figures in US space exploration, died of pneumonia in California aged 92. A graduate of Canterbury University and the California Institute of Technology, Wellington-born…
A Stanford University obituary paid tribute to Susan Okin, the Auckland-born author, lecturer, and activist described by a Stanford University colleague as “perhaps the best feminist political philosopher in the world.” The author of three acclaimed books – Women…
Gordon Lindsay Weir, the world’s oldest surviving Test cricketer, died in Auckland on October 31 aged 95 years and 151 days. Known in cricketing circles as ‘Dad,’ the right-hand batsman and medium-pace bowler played 11 Tests for…
British photojournalist, Joan Wakelin, died on September 23 aged 75. Wakelin is best known for her images of Sri Lankan boat-people, Australian Aboriginal and NZ Maori communities; the latter with which she had a special connection. She…
NZ-born WW2 hero, Sir William Crawford, has died in England aged 95. Crawford was gunnery officer and lieutenant-commander aboard the Rodney during the sinking of Germany’s great battleship, the Bismarck. His distinguished naval career also saw him…
Judith Piepe – social activist and cultural icon – has died in Levin aged 83. Famous for her mysterious origins and friendships with the likes of Cat Stevens and Paul Simon (she was his agent), Piepe’s door was…
Esteemed facial surgeon and dental safety innovator, David Poswillo, has died aged 76. Born in Gisborne, Poswillo’s career took him to Australia, England, Wales, Canada, and the US. As well as his role as a surgeon, Poswillo…
Rally champion Peter “Possum” Bourne, who died April 30th (aged 47), has been praised as “a humble man with rare ability, a relentless competitor who inspired a new generation of drivers.” “The most successful rally driver in…
John Kent, well-known political cartoonist, lecturer and illustrator, died on April 13 aged 65. Born in Oamaru, Kent’s work was a familiar feature in Private Eye, Guardian, Daily Mail, The Sun and, finally, The…
Edwin “Ted” Carr – “grand old man of NZ music” – has died aged 76. At times a conductor, teacher, dancer and animator, Carr achieved his greatest fame late in life as a composer….
NZ lost one of its edgiest inhabitants with the death of Janet Frame from acute myeloid leukemia on January 29. Frame, the author of 11 novels, 5 collections of short stories, a poetry collection,…
Rugby fans around the world farewell Don “the Boot” Clarke, an incomparable All Black legend. Business Day calls him “an icon for a generation of NZers,” while The Australian remembers his match-winning conversion against France at Athletic Park…
The Times pays tribute to W.J.B Owen, academia’s pre-eminent Wordsworth scholar. Born in NZ in 1916, Owen forged a distinguished career in England and Canada. “Owen was a scholar’s scholar – meticulous, exact, exhaustive and always reliable…
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