Sir Archie Reuben Louis Michaelis (19 December 1889 – 22 April 1975) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

from 1932 to 1952, representing the electorate of St Kilda for the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

and its successor, the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Early life

Michaelis was born in St Kilda into a wealthy Jewish family who owned the successful leather tannery Michaelis, Hallenstein & Co. The family home was the historic mansion Linden on Acland Street, now a contemporary arts centre. He attended Wesley College and Cumloden School in St Kilda, until 1903 when his family took him to England to be educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

.Levi, J. S.
'Michaelis, Sir Archie Reuben Louis (1889–1975)'
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 23 February 2012. In 1908, Michaelis returned to Melbourne, where he began working for the family business, and in 1912 he returned to England to work in the company's London office. He was in England when World War I broke out, and he immediately enlisted in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, serving with the

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

in the Middle East and in 1916 was commissioned in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

in which he served in Ireland and Greece.

Political career

At the 1932 Victorian election, Michaelis was elected to the

representing the seat of St Kilda for the

(later to become the

). He was made a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

in Ian MacFarlan's "stop-gap" ministry from October to November 1945. In June 1950, Michaelis was elected

Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria. The presiding officer of the upper house of the Parliament of Victoria, the Victorian ...

. He was knighted in the 1952 New Year Honours. In October 1952, he was one of six members of the Victorian parliament who made

affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or ''deposition (law), deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by la ...

s to

Liberal and Country Party The Victorian Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division), and branded as Liberal Victoria, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in ...

leader Les Norman that they had been offered financial and political incentives by representatives of

Thomas Hollway Thomas Tuke Hollway (2 October 1906 – 30 July 1971) was the 36th Premier of Victoria, and the first to be born in the 20th century. He held office from 1947 to 1950, and again for a short period in 1952. He was originally a member and the lea ...

, a disaffected MP and former

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government of the state of Victoria in Australia. The premier leads the Cabinet of Victoria and selects its ministers. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, must be a member of the Vic ...

, who needed parliamentary support for a planned

motion of no-confidence In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an obse ...

against the governing Country Party led by John McDonald. Michaelis stated that he had been approached by a man named Raymond Ellinson, who offered him the position of

Agent-General An Agent-General ( or , masculine and feminine respectively) is the representative in cities abroad of the government of a Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province or an States and territories of Australia, Australian state and, h ...

, another term as Speaker, and immunity from opposition in the next election. A Royal Commission was established to investigate the charges against Hollway, but it was postponed indefinitely on a legal technicality and never reconvened. In the subsequent state election in December 1952, Michaelis was defeated by the Labor Party candidate John Bourke, and retired from politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaelis, Archie 1889 births 1975 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Speakers of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian Knights Bachelor People educated at Harrow School British Army personnel of World War I Honourable Artillery Company soldiers Royal Field Artillery officers Jewish Australian politicians People from St Kilda, Victoria Australian expatriates in England Military personnel from Melbourne Politicians from Melbourne