Malcolm Henry Ellis

Malcolm Henry Ellis, CMG (21 August 1890 – 18 January 1969) was an Australian journalist, historian, critic, reviewer and staunch anti-communist.^[1]

Ellis won praise during World War II for his column, 'The Service Man', which appeared under the pseudonym 'Ek Dum'. Using radio reports and his knowledge of terrain, he described military campaigns in a realistic manner so that it was assumed he was present.^[1]

Due to his staunch criticism of the writing of Manning Clark he almost subverted the launching of the Australian Dictionary of Biography and also his review is in some memories the main legacy of his otherwise extensive works.^[2]

Awards

• 1942 he was awarded the S. H. Prior prize by the The Bulletin for his John Murtagh Macrossan lectures at the University of Queensland on Macquarie
• Appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (C.M.G.) in 1956
• Honorary doctorate conferred by the University of Newcastle, 21 October 1966. The vice-chancellor, Professor James Auchmuty, praised him for contributing more than any other historian to 'knowledge of our country in the first half century of its existence'^[1]

Notes

1. Fletcher, B. H. "Ellis, Malcolm Henry (1890–1969),". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
2. Andrew Moore (1999) History without facts: M. H. Ellis, Manning Clark and the origins of the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, Dec 1999 also at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4817/is_2_85/ai_n28745196/. Given the extent of Malcolm Ellis's contribution to historical scholarship, it is curious that sometimes he should be more widely remembered for a single book review. This was `History Without Facts', published in The Bulletin on 22 September 1962. Ellis's response to the first volume of Manning Clark's history of Australia shaped contemporary and subsequent responses to Clark's ambitious project. In less than subtle terms Malcolm Ellis introduced a new pastime to Australian public and intellectual life, that of Manning Clark 'bashing'

Sources & external links