Celebrity Humanitarianism in the 1920s: Australian Women at the League of Nations

Abstract

In this article, I characterise the reception Australian women who attended the League of Nations as a form of celebrity status. While there has been increasing interest in the League and women’s role within it, many of these women have rarely been discussed extensively in League accounts. The media was keen to project an exotic aura around participating in the League; these women actively shaped this profile and publicity. I explore how the work of the League was transplanted beyond Geneva and consider new methods of humanitarian advocacy in localised contexts such as that of celebrity humanitarianism.