John Dunmore
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John Dunmore (6 August 1923 – 1 May 2023) was a French-born New Zealand academic, historian, author, playwright, and publisher.


Biography

Dunmore was born in
Trouville-sur-Mer Trouville-sur-Mer (, literally ''Trouville on Sea''), commonly referred to as Trouville, is a city of 4,603 inhabitants in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Trouville-sur-Mer borders Deauville across the ...
, France, on 6 August 1923. He lived in Jersey under German occupation during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and then in England, where he received a BA from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1950. He completed a PhD under historian J. C. Beaglehole at
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...
in 1962, studying the French contribution to the exploration of the Pacific Ocean in the 18th century. He was professor of French, head of the Department of Modern Languages, and dean of Humanities at
Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...
, from which he retired in 1985. Dunmore's main field of history was the exploration of the Pacific, particularly by French navigators. He wrote two major biographies of La Pérouse, and translated and edited his journals (which he rediscovered after they had been misfiled in the
French National Archives The Archives nationales (; abbreviated AN; English: National Archives) are the national archives of France. They preserve the archives of the French state, apart from the archives of the Ministry of Armed Forces and Ministry of Foreign Affairs ...
). In addition, he wrote biographies and edited the journals of both de Surville and of Bougainville. His biography of de Surville, ''The fateful voyage of the St. Jean Baptiste'', won the Wattie Book of the Year award in 1970.Massey News Article – Champion of the Humanities
His work was highly regarded by scholars as well as by the public: * "John Dunmore has done more than anyone to bring our attention to the achievements of eighteenth and nineteenth century French explorers of the Pacific" * "''cette étonnante biographie, élégamment écrite'' (this stunning and elegantly written biography (of Bougainville))" * "The succinct and perceptive evaluation of the voyages and the Anglo-French rivalry is of great use" Dunmore wrote a variety of other books, including a series of thrillers under the pseudonym "Jason Calder". He produced a book of 18th-century recipes, ''Mrs
Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...
's book of recipes for mariners in distant seas''. Some of the recipes were derived from the logs of explorers of the day. He also wrote plays, held office in the Playwrights Association of New Zealand, and wrote a history of the association. In his capacity as professor of French, Dunmore was president of the New Zealand ''Federation des Alliances Francaises'', a post he held for twenty years. Dunmore established two separate publishing firms, the Dunmore Press (1969–1984) and Heritage Press (1985–2004). The Dunmore Press, a substantial New Zealand publisher of academic books, eventually became part of the Thomson publishing group, in 2004. Dunmore died on 1 May 2023, at the age of 99.


Honours and awards

In 1990, Dunmore was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature and historical research. The French Government appointed Dunmore as a Chevalier dans la
Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
(Knight of the Legion of Honor) in 1976, and an Officier dans l'Ordre des Palmes académiques (Officer of the Academic Palms) in 1986. He was promoted to Officier de la
Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
(Officer of the Legion of Honor) in 2007, becoming only the tenth New Zealander to hold this level of the order and the third New Zealander to be promoted to the superior rank of Officer after Lieutenant Colonel James Waddell and Nancy Wake. Massey University awarded Dunmore an honorary DLitt degree in 2006. Fellow Pacific scholars honoured him with a
Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
: The Dunmore Medal for research into French achievements and development in the Pacific is named after him.Award of the Dunmore Medal


Books

This list of books by Dunmore is representative but by no means complete. He also wrote many articles, book chapters, reviews, plays and other items. A list of his scholarly writings to 2005 is included in ''Pacific Journeys'' at pp. 15–19.


Biographies

* * * Published also by ABC Books, Sydney, Australia. * Published also by ABC Books, Sydney, Australia & University of Alaska Press, 2007, * * Translation of ''Pacific Explorer''. * *


Translated and edited journals of explorers

* * * *


Other historical works

* * * * * * * *


Fiction

"Jason Calder" is a pseudonym for John Dunmore. * * * * * *


Other

* Also published by the
Australian National Maritime Museum The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) is a Australian government, federally operated maritime museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. After considering the idea of establishing a maritime museum, the federal government announced that a nation ...
. * * * * *


See also

* List of foreign recipients of the Légion d'Honneur * List of Foreign recipients of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques


References


External links


Dunmore Press
('' the site still exists and is being updated'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunmore, John 1923 births 2023 deaths 20th-century biographers 20th-century New Zealand historians 20th-century New Zealand male writers 20th-century New Zealand novelists 21st-century New Zealand historians Academic staff of Massey University Alumni of the University of London Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand male biographers New Zealand biographers New Zealand crime fiction writers New Zealand justices of the peace New Zealand male novelists New Zealand recipients of the Legion of Honour Officers of the Legion of Honour Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques People from Trouville-sur-Mer Victoria University of Wellington alumni