John Curtin

John Curtin (January 8 1885 – July 5 1945), Australian politician and 14th Prime Minister of Australia, led Australia through the darkest period of its history: when the Australian mainland came under direct military threat during the Japanese advance in World War II. Many Australians regard him as the country's greatest political leader and greatest Prime Minister.

Militant youth

Curtin was born John Joseph Ambrose Curtin (he dropped the two middle names when he left the Roman Catholic church as a young man), in Creswick in central Victoria, the son of a police officer of Irish descent. He had some primary education, but by the age of twelve he was working in a factory in Melbourne. He soon became active in both the Australian Labor Party and the Victorian Socialist Party, a Marxist group. He wrote for radical and socialist newspapers as "Jack Curtin".

Related Topics:
Creswick - Victoria - Melbourne - Australian Labor Party - Marxist

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In 1911 Curtin was employed as secretary of the Timberworkers' Union, and during World War I he was a militant anti-conscriptionist. He was briefly imprisoned for refusing to attend a compulsory medical examination, even though he knew he would fail the exam due to his very poor eyesight. The strain of this period led him to drink heavily, a vice which blighted his career for many years. In 1917 he married Elsie Needham, the sister of a Labor Senator.

Related Topics:
1911 - World War I

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