Maris King

Maris Estelle King (1922–1997) was an Australian public servant and diplomat.[1]

Maris King
Born
Maris Estelle King

1922
Died1997
NationalityAustralian
OccupationPublic servant, diplomat

King began her Commonwealth Public Service career in 1942 as a typist in the Department of External Affairs.[2] In 1943, King was posted to Chongqing, China. She was the first clerical officer that the Australian Government had sent abroad.[3] From 1951 to 1954, whilst still an external affairs officer, King studied Arts at the Canberra University College. She performed consistently well in her exams, including topping the Melbourne University examination class list in economics from 1952 to 1954.[4]

King went on to become the third woman to head an Australian diplomatic mission, as Australian High Commissioner to Nauru from 1977 to 1979.[5] In 1980 she was appointed Australia's first resident High Commissioner to Tonga.[6] She arrived in May 1980,[7] and was living in Nuku'alofa when Cyclone Isaac ravaged Tonga. No Australians were killed or injured in the storms.[8]

King retired in 1984.[2]

Honours

In 2010, a street in Casey, Australian Capital Territory was named Maris King Street in King's honour.[1] In late 2016, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade named one of its 16 meeting rooms in honour of King, in recognition of her work as a pioneering female diplomat.[9]

References
  1. Ryder, Delwyn (2009), Maris King Street, ACT Government, archived from the original on 20 February 2016
  2. "Maris King leaving FA". The Canberra Times. ACT. 18 January 1984. p. 3.
  3. Downer, Alexander (8 March 2005), To launch the DFAT Exhibition "Women Working for Australia" On the occasion of International Women's Day 2005, Australian Government, archived from the original on 15 June 2005, retrieved 5 February 2017
  4. "Miss Maris King again heads economics exam". The Canberra Times. 16 December 1954. p. 2.
  5. "Woman to be envoy to Nauru". The Canberra Times. 15 January 1977. p. 7.
  6. "Tonga posting". The Canberra Times. 25 April 1980. p. 3.
  7. "High Commissioner enamoured of Pacific". The Canberra Times. 26 April 1981. p. 14.
  8. "Special flight for Tongans". The Canberra Times. 10 March 1982. p. 9.
  9. Lewis, Rosie (11 January 2017). "DFAT renames meeting rooms after female diplomats". The Australian. News Corp. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Alan Fogg		 Australian High Commissioner to Nauru
Australian High Commissioner to Kirbati
1977–1979		 Succeeded by
Oliver Cordell
Preceded by
Gordon Upton		 Australian High Commissioner to Tonga
1980–1984		 Succeeded by
Brian Smith


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