Cowen as Life-Writer: Sidelights from the Archives

Abstract

Biography is an unusual choice of subject for a legal academic, but for Zelman Cowen it was a recurring interest. This article, based on a paper presented at the Zelman Cowen Conference at the University of Melbourne in March 2014, considers Cowen’s choice of biographical subjects before turning to the light that archival research casts on two episodes in the lives of people about whom he wrote: the appointment of Sir Isaac Isaacs as Governor-General of Australia, and Cowen’s own early academic career.