Frances Barkman (March 1885 - 28 September 1946) was a Jewish

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

schoolteacher and community worker. Born in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, she emigrated to Australia in 1891, with her parents, who were fleeing the

pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...

. She was raised in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, and became a French language teacher at the

Melbourne Continuation School The Melbourne Continuation School was Victoria's first state secondary school, established in 1905, from the initiative of Director of Education, Frank Tate. The school was founded on the old National Model School in Spring Street, with princip ...

, and later the MacRobertson Girls High School. Outside of teaching, she was active in charity work with the Victorian branch of the Australian Jewish Welfare Society. During World War II, she played a vital role in providing assistance to Jewish

refugees A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

arriving in Melbourne, particularly children. She led efforts to establish a children's home for orphans and unaccompanied refugee children, which was renamed the Frances Barkman Home after her death.

Early life

Frances Barkman was born in Kiev in the Russian Empire in March 1885. Her parents were Joseph and Anna Barkman, a Jewish couple who later fled Kiev to escape the pogroms, a wave of violence perpetrated against Jews in the Russia empire in the 1890s. They arrived in Melbourne in 1891, where Joseph Barkman found a position teaching Hebrew at

Ormond College Ormond College is the largest of the residential colleges of the University of Melbourne located in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is home to around 350 undergraduates, 90 graduates and 35 professorial and academic residents. H ...

, which was non-sectarian in its admissions, and open to students from all religions. For secondary education, Barkman attended the Rathdowne Street State school, in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton, Victoria. She then decided to pursue teaching as a career, one of the few professions open to women at the time. She attended the Training Institute, later renamed the Melbourne Teachers College. After completing her studies, she began teaching in the Victorian Education Department. While teaching, she continued her education, earning a

Diploma of Education The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Overview The diploma can build on th ...

from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

in 1905. In 1912, she completed a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

, also at the University of Melbourne.

Career

Teaching

Barkman's teaching career began in suburban state (or public) schools. In 1911, she began teaching French at the public high school in Melbourne, known then as the Continuation School. The school was composed of departments for boys and girls; the boys high school was relocated in 1927, and the girls high school was moved in 1931, and renamed the MacRobertson Girls' High School. Barkman taught at the Continuation School and then at the MacRobertson school, until her sudden death in 1947. In addition to teaching French, Barkman also produced numerous plays for the high school students, as well as for the Lyceum Club outside of school. Barkman's dedication to promoting French language and culture was recognized by the French government, which bestowed two awards on her in the 1930s. She also sat on the University French Standing Committee, served as an examiner in French for the university public examinations, and was an active member of the Victorian

Alliance Française (; "French Alliance", stylised as ''af'') is an international organization that aims to promote the French language and francophone culture around the world. Created in Paris on 21 July 1883 under the name ''Alliance française pour la propa ...

. During World War II, she served as the inaugural president for the women's auxiliary within the Australian

Free France Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...

movement, and oversaw war relief efforts at her school.

Community volunteer work

Outside of her professional life, Barkman was very active as a volunteer in charitable works through Jewish agencies. She was the honorary secretary of the Victorian branch of the Australian Jewish Welfare Society, and took a leadership role in the organization's efforts to help refugees from Europe who arrived in Victoria. In her obituary in the Australian Jewish Herald, it was noted that Barkman had organized concerts for refugees during the war because they were not able to listen to music on the radio, due to restrictions on the use of "wireless sets". Barkman was particularly concerned for the welfare of refugee children, and at her initiative, in 1939 the Australian Jewish Welfare Society petitioned the Australian government during World War II to issue visas for unaccompanied Jewish minors fleeing the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. The government agreed to allocate 250 visas a year for unaccompanied children as part of the overall three-years total for Jewish visas, which they capped at 15,000. To provide support and housing for these children, Barkman led efforts to establish a home for refugee children at Larino, an estate and mansion in

Balwyn Balwyn () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Balwyn recorded a population of 13,495 at the 2021 census. The sub ...

. The home opened in 1939, under the management of the Victorian branch of the Australian Jewish Welfare Society, and continued as an orphanage until 1964.

Death and legacy

After battling cancer, Barkman died in hospital on 28 September 1946. Her memorial service was held at St. Kilda's synagogue. In her will, she left money for a scholarship fund to assist students in the Jewish Refugee Children's Home; the fund was named the Frances Barkman Memorial Fund. It provided financial support for a students who would otherwise not have the means to pay for university courses. Barkman also left money to the University of Melbourne and the Australian Jewish Welfare Society. In 1948, the Larino Home was renamed the Frances Barkman House. When it was sold in 1965, three Frances Barkman Homes were established as family group homes, in Caufield. These closed in the early 1990s.

References