Leslie Bodi (1922–2015) was the foundation Professor of German and long-term head of the department (1963–1987) at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

Early life and education

Bodi was born László Bodi in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

on 1 September 1922. His parents were István Bruchsteiner, a publisher, and Klara (née Pongrácz). Obituary for Leslie Bodi
''TRANS Internet-Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaften , Internet journal for cultural studies , Revue électronique de recherches sur la culture'', inst.at. Retrieved 10 March 2020. He attended school in Hungary and Italy. After working as a graphics instructor and offset machine operator in 1940-43, he spent 18 months in a forced labour camp (1943–45). At the end of the Second World War, he studied German and English at the university level in Budapest and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

(1945–49), graduating with Budapest ''

Staatsexamen The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, physical therapists, teachers, research librarians, archivists, pharmacists, food chemists, psyc ...

'' qualifications in 1949Christoph König, Birgit Wägenbaur, et al., eds., "Bodi, Leslie", in:
Internationales Germanistenlexikon 1800-1950
', Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2003, pp. 213-4. and with a Ph.D. from the

University of Budapest A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. From 1946 he also worked as a tutor and assistant in German at the University of Budapest. Following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, he migrated to Australia with his wife and daughter.Philip Thomson
OBITUARY: Leslie Bodi, Professor of German, a vibrant personality
''

Newcastle Herald The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...

'', 15 November 1915.

Academic career in Australia

Bodi taught German and history at the

Melbourne Grammar School Melbourne Grammar School is an Australian private school, private Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Day school, day and boarding school. It comprises a co-educational preparatory school from Prep to Year 6 and a middle school and senior s ...

for two years (1957–58) and then was a lecturer at the University College,

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

. In 1961 he returned to Melbourne to take up an appointment as Senior Lecturer at

. In 1963 he was appointed as the Foundation Professor of German at the same university, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1987. During those years as professor he would also occupy several research positions, mainly in

, but also at

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Budapest,

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

. He was also visiting professor at universities in Vienna,

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

and Berlin.

Legacy

Appointed in 1963 to set up the new German studies department at

, Bodi implemented a broad curriculum that included not only the traditional study of German language and literature but also the "political, social and cultural history of the German-speaking lands". He actively and rapidly recruited new young staff, many of whom, including the linguist

Michael Clyne Michael George Clyne (12 October 1939 – 29 October 2010) was an Australian linguist, academic and intellectual. He was a scholar in various fields of linguistics, including sociolinguistics, pragmatics, bilingualism and multilingualism, sec ...

and the Germanist David Roberts, went on to complete "doctorates under his supervision". He used Monash University's new budget to build up an "outstanding collection" of books and other resources in the university library. He emphasised that German culture and studied were "pluricentric" and so he taught not only

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

but also

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

whose literature and language he viewed as "autonomous". He also promoted the study of the literature and culture of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

and more generally of "emerging European writers and movements". Bodi's own academic research included pioneering work on German-Australian connections, including on the naturalist and ethnologist

Georg Forster Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (; 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German geography, geographer, natural history, naturalist, ethnology, ethnologist, travel literature, travel writer, journalist and revol ...

, who went on

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

's second voyage to the Pacific, and on the

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

in Austria, writing a book ''Tauwetter in Wien'' (Thaw in Vienna) which has become a standard work. He produced bibliographies on German

Australiana Australiana is anything pertaining to Australian culture, society, geography and ecology, especially if it is endemic to Australia or has reached iconic status. It includes people, places, flora, fauna and events of Australian origins. Austr ...

and German culture held in Melbourne libraries.

Personal life

Leslie Bodi married Marianna "Marianne" Marton in 1950. They had one daughter, Anna. He died on 4 September 2015.

Awards

* 1973: Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse des Verdienstorders der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

* 1976: Österreichisches Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst 1, Klasse (

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Austria, Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science a ...

) * 1989:

Friedrich-Gundolf-Preis Friedrich-Gundolf-Preis is a literary prize of Germany. It was established by the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung in 1964 to promote German culture outside Germany. The award is named after the Germanist Friedrich Gundolf. The award ...

* 1991: Goethe-Medaille des Goethe-Instituts Munchen (

Goethe Medal The Goethe Medal, also known as the Goethe-Medaille, is a yearly prize given by the Goethe-Institut honoring non-Germans "who have performed outstanding service for the German language and for international cultural relations". It is an offici ...

) * 1997:

Humboldt Research Award The Humboldt Research Award (), also known informally as the Humboldt Prize, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany to internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of Germany in recognition of t ...

Dr Lesli Bodi
monash.edu.au. Retrieved 13 March 2020.

Select bibliography

Books: As author

* ''Heinrich Heine'' (Budapest: Közoktatásügyi kiadóvállalat, 1951) * ''German Culture in the Libraries of Melbourne: the State Library of Victoria; Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne; German Dept. Library, University of Melbourne; Monash University Library'' (joint author: Susan Radvansky) (Melbourne: German Section, Department of Modern Languages, Monash University, 1967) * ''Tauwetter in Wien: zur Prosa der österreichischen Aufklärung 1781–1795'' (Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer, 1977) * ''Image of a Continent: A Bibliography of German Australiana from the Beginnings to 1975 = Bild eines Kontinents : eine Bibliographie deutscher Australiana von den Anfängen bis 1975'' (Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, c.1990) * ''Literatur, Politik, Identität = Literature, Politics, Cultural Identity'' (St. Ingbert: Röhrig, 2002)

Books: As editor

* ''Effi Briest'' by

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language Literary realism, realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he i ...

(Budapest: Szèpirodalmi Könyvkiado, 1954) * ''Adventures on a Journey to New Holland and The Lonely Deathbed'', by

Therese Huber Therese Huber (7 May 1764 – 15 June 1829) was a German author. She was one of the so-called , a group of five academically active women during the mid-18th and early 19th centuries. The group consisted of daughters of academics at Göttingen Un ...

. Translated from the German original '' Abentheuer auf einer Reise nach Neu-Holland (1793)'' by Rodney Livingstone. Edited, with preface and notes, by Leslie Bodi. Melbourne: Lansdowne Press, 1966. George Farwell, "First novel set in Australia", ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', 30 July 1966, p. 17. * ''Das Problem Österreich: Arbeitspapiere : Interdisziplinäre Konferenz über Geschichte, Kultur und GesellschaftÖsterreichs im 20. Jahrhundert, Germanistisches Institut, Monash Universität 16–18 Mai, 1980 = The Austrian Problem: Working papers: Interdisciplinary Conference on 20th Century Austrian History, Culture and Society, Department of German, Monash University, May 16–18, 1980'' (co-edited with Philip Thomson) (Clayton, Victoria: Monash University, Department of German, 1982) * ''The German Connection: Sesquicentenary Essays on German-Victorian Crosscurrents, 1835–1985'' (co-edited with Stephen Jeffries) (Clayton, Victoria: Department of German, Monash University, 1985) * ''Weltbürger, Textwelten: Helmut Kreuzer zum Dank'' (co-edited with Helmut Kreuzer) (Frankfurt am Main and New York: P. Lang, c. 1995). * ''Der Eroberer: eine Parodie der Macht'' by Paul Weidmann (co-edited with Friedrich Voit) (Heidelberg: C. Winter, 1997)

Articles

* "Georg Forster: The 'Pacific expert' of eighteenth‐century Germany", ''Historical Studies: Australia and New Zealand'', Volume 8, 1959, Issue 32, pp. 345–363. * "The Art of Paradox: Volker Braun's 'Unvollendete Geschichte'", ''Journal of the Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association'', Volume 48, 1977, Issue 1, pp. 268–282. * "Intellectuals, writers and the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

files: Effects of the release of East German secret police files", ''

Meanjin ''Meanjin'' (), formerly ''Meanjin Papers'' and ''Meanjin Quarterly'', is one of Australia's longest-running literary magazines. Established in 1940 in Brisbane, it moved to Melbourne in 1945 and as of 2008 is an editorially independent impri ...

'', Vol. 52, No. 1, Autumn 1993, pp. 5–22.

References

External links

Personal Archives: Bodi, Leslie (1922-2015)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bodi, Leslie Australian literary critics 1922 births 2015 deaths Budapest University alumni Academic staff of Monash University Germanists Writers from Budapest Hungarian emigrants to Australia 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian male writers Humboldt Research Award recipients Hungarian expatriates in Italy Hungarian expatriates in Austria Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Hungarian World War II forced labourers