Colin Tatz Explained

Colin Tatz AO (18 July 1934 – 19 November 2019)^[1] was a South African-Australian academic and public intellectual.^[1] He was the director of the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Professor of Politics at the University of New England, Armidale, and Macquarie University, Sydney.

Early life

Colin Tatz was born and raised in the inner city suburb of Berea in Johannesburg, South Africa on 18 July 1934 to Jewish parents. He attended Yeoville Boys School, a primary school in a then predominantly Jewish Yeoville in inner-city Johannesburg. He then attended King Edward VII School in the city. He had his Bar Mitzvah at Berea Shul. He graduated from the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg in Natal province. He funded his studies by working for the local newspaper, The Natal Witness.^[2] He studied for a master's degree at the University of Natal under Edgar Brookes, concentrating on native administration.^[2]

Career

He emigrated to Australia in 1961, at the age of twenty-six. He made the journey with his wife, Sandra, his cousin Doreeen and her daughters, including Shira Nayman. In 1964 Tatz received his PhD from the Australian National University, publishing a thesis entitled Aboriginal Administration.^[3] He was later employed at Monash University as a senior lecturer of politics and sociology.^[3] He later had tenures as a politics professor at University of New England and Macquarie University.^[3]

From 2011, he was involved with the School of Politics and International Relations at the Australian National University as a visiting fellow, then visiting professor and honorary lecturer.^[3] He authored several books and published articles on race politics, genocide, the Holocaust,^[4] antisemitism, and racism and discrimination in sport.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Bibliography

Books

• Shadow and Substance in South Africa, A Study in Land and Franchise Policies Affecting Africans, 1910–1960 (1962).
• Aborigines in the Economy, edited by Ian Sharp and Colin Tatz (1966).
• Aborigines and Education, edited by S.S. Dunn and C.M. Tatz (1969).
• Black Viewpoints: The Aboriginal Experience, ed. C.M. Tatz (1975).
• Race Politics in Australia: Aborigines, Politics and Law (1979).
• Aborigines and Uranium and Other Essays (1982).
• Aborigines in Sport, Australian Society for Sports History (1987).
• The Royal Sydney Golf Club: The First Hundred Years, with Brian Stoddart (1993).
• Obstacle Race: Aborigines in Sport (1995) – Winner of the Australian Human Rights Award for Non-Fiction.
• Black Diamonds: The Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame, with Paul Tatz (1996).
• Genocide Perspectives I, editor-in-chief (1997).
• AFL's Black Stars, with Michael Long (1998).
• One-Eyed: a View of Australian Sport, with Douglas Booth (2000).
• Black Gold: the Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame, with Paul Tatz (2000).
• Aboriginal Suicide is Different: a Portrait of Life and Self-Destruction (2001).
• A Course of History: Monash Country Club, 1931 – 2001 (2002).
• Genocide Perspectives II: Essays in Holocaust and Genocide, eds. Colin Tatz, Peter Arnold and Sandra Tatz (2003).
• With Intent to Destroy: Reflecting on Genocide (2003).
• Genocide Perspectives III: Essays in Holocaust and Genocide, eds. Colin Tatz, Peter Arnold and Sandra Tatz (2006).
• Worlds Apart: the Re-Migration of South African Jews, with Peter Arnold and Gillian Heller (2007).
• Genocide in Australia: By Accident or Design? (2011).
• Genocide Perspectives IV: Essays on Holocaust and Genocide, ed. Colin Tatz (2012).
• Human Rights and Human Wrongs: A Life Confronting Racism, Melbourne, Monash University Publishing, 2015, pp 382.
• The Magnitude of Genocide, with Winton Higgins, Santa Barbara, CA, Praeger Security International, 2016, pp. 296.
• Australia's Unthinkable Genocide, Bloomington, IN, Xlibris., 2017, pp. 272.
• Black Pearls: The Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame, with Paul Tatz, Aboriginal Studies Press, 2018.
• The Sealed Box of Suicide: The Contexts of Self-Death, with Simon Tatz, Zug, Switzerland: Springer. 2019.

Personal life

In South Africa, he met his wife, Sandra Melmed. They got married at Berea Shul in Berea, an inner city neighbourhood of Johannesburg. They raised their children together in Australia. Their son, Simon Tatz, was a writer for ABC News and a senior adviser to the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Greens.^[8]

Sources

• • Prof. Tatz

Notes and References

1. News: Remembering Professor Colin Tatz . 25 December 2020 . Radio National . 20 November 2019.
2. https://witness.co.za/archive/2009/01/05/the-essential-question-20150430/ The Essential Question
3. https://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/vale-emeritus-professor-colin-tatz Vale Emeritus Professor Colin Tatz
4. News: AJN Staff . Acclaimed Shoah scholar mourned . 2021-01-04 . The Times of Israel.
5. https://forward.com/community/359732/is-the-jewish-body-fit-for-sports/ Is the Jewish Body Fit for Sports?
6. https://forward.com/community/360243/the-olympics-jews-and-sport/ The Dark History of Jews And The Olympics
7. https://theconversation.com/in-both-schooling-and-sport-australia-has-slowly-come-to-recognise-its-aboriginal-talent-pool-93637 In both schooling and sport, Australia has slowly come to recognise its Aboriginal talent pool
8. https://www.abc.net.au/news/simon-tatz/40426 Simon Tatz