John Neylon Molony (15 April 1927 – 16 September 2018) was an Australian historian, academic and author. He was an Emeritus Professor of History at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

(ANU). Molony's long academic career with the ANU began in 1964, when he was employed as a Research Assistant in Medieval History in the School of Social Science. He was to go on to become Head of the Department of History and to hold the

Manning Clark Charles Manning Hope Clark, (3 March 1915 – 23 May 1991) was an Australian historian and the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume ''A History of Australia'', published between 1962 and 1987. He has been descri ...

Chair of Australian History from 1982 until his retirement from the University in 1990. On his retirement, the ANU appointed Molony as an Emeritus Professor of History. Following his retirement from the ANU in 1990, Molony was appointed to the Keith Cameron Professorship of Australian History at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

. He held this position until 1993. In 1993, on his return to Australia, Molony was appointed to the Foundation Research Professorship in History at the Australian Catholic University in Canberra. He left the University in July 1996. During the course of his career, Molony published a number of scholarly works on subjects as diverse as the encyclical of

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

and

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...

to the

bicentennial __NOTOC__ A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to: Europe *French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...

history of Australia, as well as numerous newspaper and journal articles, chapters in books and literary reviews. Out of all of his published works, Molony said that he believed his 2000 book, ''The Native-Born: The First White Australians'', would be judged as his most significant original contribution to the writing of Australian history, stating: "I say this because the native-born had never been given the serious consideration they deserve for their contribution to the making of our nation. More than any other element, including the convict element, they made us what we in large measure remain today."Interview with John Molony

Major publications

* ''The Roman Mould of the Australian Catholic Church'', Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1969 * ''An Architect of Freedom: John Hubert Plunkett in New South Wales, 1832–1869'', Canberra, ANU Press, 1973 · * ''The Emergence of Political Catholicism in Italy: Partito Popolare, 1919–1926'', London, Croom Helm, 1977 * ''I Am Ned Kelly'', Melbourne, Allen Lane, 1980 * ''Eureka'', Melbourne, Viking, 1984 * ''The Penguin Bicentennial History of Australia'', Melbourne, Viking, 1987 * ''The Worker Question: A New Historical Perspective on Rerum Novarum'', Melbourne, Collins Dove, 1991 * ''A Soul Came into Ireland: Thomas Davis, 1814–1845'', Dublin, Geography Publications, 1995 * ''The Native-Born: The First White Australians'', Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 2000 * ''Australia: Our Heritage'', Melbourne, Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2005 * ''Captain James Cook: Claiming the Great South Land'', Connor Court Publishing, 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molony, John 1927 births 2018 deaths Australian historians Australian National University faculty Australian Roman Catholics Academics from Melbourne Historians of Australia 20th-century Australian historians