Finlay Crisp

Leslie Finlay "Fin" Crisp (19 January 1917 – 21 December 1984) was an Australian academic and political scientist.

Finlay Crisp
Secretary of the Department of Post-War Reconstruction
In office 25 August 1949 – 16 March 1950
Personal details
Born	Leslie Finlay Crisp 19 January 1917 Sandringham, Victoria
Died	21 December 1984 (aged 67) Canberra, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Spouse(s)	Helen Crisp (née Wighton)
Occupation	Academic, political scientist and public servant

The son of Leslie Walter Crisp (1884–1965), and Ruby Elizabeth Crisp (1896–1951), née Duff,[1] Leslie Finlay Crisp was born in Sandringham, Victoria on 19 January 1917.[2] He married Helen Craven Wighton (1916–2002), whom he had met at university in Adelaide, on 22 June 1940 in Oxford, U.K. He suffered a heart attack on 19 December 1984, and died, in Canberra, on 21 December 1984.[3][4]

Educated at Black Rock State School, Caulfield Grammar School and St Peter's College, Adelaide, where he graduated in 1934, Crisp earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and history from the University of Adelaide. While at university, he and his, later, wife Helen (then Helen Wighton) formed the National Union of Australian University Students.

In 1938 he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and went on to study at Balliol College in Oxford University, although his studies were disrupted while he worked for the Australian Public Service during World War II. His work included positions with the Shortwave Broadcasting Service, the Department of Labour and National Service, and the Department of Post-War Reconstruction.[5]

In 1945 he was also a member of the Australian Delegation to form the United Nations. He earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Oxford in 1948, and then became Director-General of the Department of Post-War Reconstruction.[6]

From 1950 he was a professor of political science at the Australian National University in Canberra, serving as head of the department from 1950 to 1970. He continued teaching until retirement in 1977. He was appointed a director of the Commonwealth Banking Corporation in 1974, and served as chairman of the board from 1975 to 1984.

In 2005, Crisp and his wife were two of the first 17 inductees in the Australian Capital Territory Honour Walk, recognising their contribution to Canberra's development.[7]

Crisp Circuit in the Canberra suburb of Bruce was dedicated in his name.[8]

See also

• List of Caulfield Grammar School people

Notes

1. Deaths: Crisp, The (Adelaide) Advertiser, (Tuesday, 13 February 1951), p.16.
2. Births: Crisp, The Argus, (Saturday, 27 January 1917), p.1.
3. Deaths: Crisp, The Canberra Times, (Saturday, 22 December 1984), p.20.
4. 'Fin' Crisp dies, 67, The Canberra Times, (Saturday, 22 December 1984), p.1; Obituary: 'Fin' Crisp — academic, public servant, The Canberra Times, (Saturday, 22 December 1984), p.7.
5. MS 5243: Papers of Leslie Finlay Crisp, National Library of Australia, retrieved 1 March 2014
6. CA 49: Department of Post-War Reconstruction, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 1 March 2014
7. Chief Minister, Australian Capital Territory. New ACT Honour Walk. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
8. ACT Planning and Land Authority. "Street and Suburb Names - Crisp Circuit, Bruce". Retrieved 8 July 2013.

References and further reading

• Bennett, Scott, "Crisp, Leslie Finlay (Fin) (1917–1984)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University, archived from the original on 2 May 2013
• MS 5243: Papers of Leslie Finlay Crisp, National Library of Australia, archived from the original on 14 March 2012