28 Facts About Zelman Cowen

Zelman Cowen's studies were interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Royal Australian Navy.

Zelman Cowen subsequently won the prestigious Vinerian Scholarship as the best student in the Bachelor of Civil Law degree.

Zelman Cowen remained at Oxford after graduating, serving as a fellow of Oriel College from 1947 to 1950.

In 1951, Zelman Cowen returned to Australia to become dean of the law faculty at the University of Melbourne.

Zelman Cowen became known as an expert on constitutional law, and was a visiting professor at a number of overseas institutions.

Zelman Cowen later served as vice-chancellor of the University of New England and the University of Queensland.

In 1977, Malcolm Fraser appointed Zelman Cowen to succeed John Kerr as governor-general.

Zelman Cowen was an uncontroversial choice, and became the second Jewish holder of the position, after Sir Isaac Isaacs.

Zelman Cowen was born in Melbourne in 1919 into a Jewish family named Cohen, the son of Bernard Cohen, from Belarus and Sara Cohen, born in Australia.

The name was formally changed to Zelman Cowen when he was a young boy.

Zelman Cowen was educated at St Kilda Park State School, Scotch College and the University of Melbourne.

Zelman Cowen served in the Royal Australian Navy during the Second World War, and was in Darwin during the bombing raid of 1942, before being transferred to Brisbane to work in the cipher unit of General MacArthur's office.

Zelman Cowen then went as a Rhodes Scholar to New College, Oxford, where he completed a Bachelor of Civil Law degree and jointly won the Vinerian Scholarship.

Zelman Cowen was a 1953 Fulbright Senior Scholar in Law from the University of Melbourne to Harvard University.

In 1951 Zelman Cowen returned to Australia and became dean of the law faculty at the University of Melbourne, a post he held until 1966 where he appointed, and worked with Francis Patrick Donovan.

Zelman Cowen advised the British Colonial Office on constitutional matters and advised the governments of Ghana and Hong Kong on legal issues.

Zelman Cowen was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, in 1966.

In 1977 Ray Crooke painted Portrait of Professor Emeritus Sir Zelman Cowen which is part of the University of Queensland collection.

Zelman Cowen was Emeritus Professor of Law at Melbourne and the Tagore Professor of Law at the University of Calcutta.

Zelman Cowen was a distinguished Australian with an international reputation, his knowledge of the Constitution and the law were beyond dispute, and his political views were unknown.

The fact that Zelman Cowen was Jewish gave his appointment a multicultural aspect in keeping with contemporary Australian sentiment.

Zelman Cowen served four and a half years as Governor-General, from December 1977 to July 1982.

From 1982 to 1990 Zelman Cowen was Provost of Oriel College, Oxford.

Zelman Cowen pursued a range of other interests, including serving for five years on the board of Fairfax Newspapers during a turbulent period for the company; and being patron of St Kilda Football Club.

On 7 June 1945, Zelman Cowen married Anna Wittner and had four children, Shimon, Yosef, Kate and Ben.

Zelman Cowen suffered from Parkinson's disease for at least the last 15 years of his life.

Zelman Cowen died on 8 December 2011, at the age of 92, at his home in Toorak, Victoria.

Zelman Cowen was an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.