Germaine Greer

Germaine Greer was an Australian-born English writer and public intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century. She wrote several books that challenged conventional views on sexuality, gender, and feminism, such as The Female Eunuch (1970), The Obstacle Race: The Fortunes of Women Painters and Their Work (1979), Sex and Destiny: The Politics of Human Fertility (1984), The Change: Women, Ageing and the Menopause (1991), The Whole Woman (1999), and Shakespeare's Wife (2007). She also wrote essays, articles, reviews, and memoirs for various publications and media outlets. Greer was born in 1939 in Melbourne, Victoria, to a Catholic family of Irish and Scottish descent. She attended a convent school and then studied English and French literature at the University of Melbourne. She graduated with a BA in 1959 and then moved to Sydney, where she obtained an MA in 1963. She also became involved in the Sydney Push, a group of intellectuals and radicals who debated social issues. She married Paul du Feu, a journalist and motorcyclist, in 1968, but they divorced in 1973. Greer moved to England in 1964 to pursue a PhD in English literature at Newnham College, Cambridge. She completed her thesis on Shakespeare's early comedies in 1968 and became a lecturer at the University of Warwick. She also became a prominent figure in the London underground scene, writing for magazines such as Oz and Suck. She gained international fame with the publication of The Female Eunuch in 1970, which argued that women were oppressed by a patriarchal society that reduced them to domestic and sexual roles. The book sold over a million copies and became a landmark text of the feminist movement. Greer continued to write and speak on various topics related to feminism, culture, and politics. She was known for her provocative and controversial opinions, such as her criticism of transgender identity, her support for female genital mutilation, her opposition to rape laws, and her dismissal of the Me Too movement. She also travelled extensively and lived in different countries, such as Italy, France, India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Egypt. She bought a property in Essex in 1984 and turned it into a conservation project. She also donated her archive of personal papers and books to the University of Melbourne in 2013. Greer died in 2021 at the age of 82 after a long battle with cancer. She was cremated at Cambridge City Crematorium and her ashes were scattered in her garden.