Miriam Edna Saphira is a New Zealand

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

activist, poet, artist and psychologist. Saphira founded New Zealand's only museum of lesbian culture, the Charlotte Museum. Saphira was awarded a

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...

, a

New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 was established by Royal Warrant on 1 July 1993. It was created to commemorate Women's suffrage in New Zealand and to recognize those New Zealand and Commonwealth citizens who had made a significant ...

, and in 2022 was appointed a Companion of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

for services to the

LGBTQIA+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...

community.

Early life

Saphira was born in 1941 at

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. Her schooling was at the New Plymouth GHS and she went on to train at the Palmerston North Teachers' College followed by the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

Career

Saphira trained as a psychologist and researched and wrote about topics including incest, the sexual abuse of children, prostitution, rape, lesbian and gay rights, and violence against women. She worked with sex offenders, and supported incarcerated women. In the 1970s Saphira became a member of the

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feminist magazine. Her 1981 book ''The Sexual abuse of children'' became an important work for people working with either children and offenders. Saphira completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

titled ''Children's understanding of sexual orientation'' at the

in 1990. Saphira founded the Charlotte Museum in 2007, New Zealand's only museum on lesbian culture. The need for the museum became apparent to Saphira when she tried to donate objects to the Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand which they could not accept. The museum is named for two members of the KG Club Committee who died around the time of the museum's founding, Charlotte Prime and Charlotte Smith. The museum held a pop-up exhibition dedicated to Saphira in April 2024 when she retired for health reasons from her positions as Secretary of the Board and Trustee. Saphira was a founding trustee of the New Zealand Aids Foundation (now the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa) and Joint Secretary General of the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

Honours and awards

Saphira was awarded a New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal in 1990 and a New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal in 1993. In the 2022 Queen's Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours, Saphira was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the LGBTQIA+ community.

Selected works

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References

External links

PrideNZ podcast
interviewing Miriam Saphira about the establishment of The Charlotte Museum Trust, 5 March 2012 New Zealand psychologists New Zealand women psychologists University of Auckland alumni Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 New Zealand lesbian writers Museum founders People educated at New Plymouth Girls' High School {{DEFAULTSORT:Saphira, Miriam