Alex Chernov

{{short description|Australian jurist|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = {{pre-nominal styles|size=100%|Hon}} | name = Alex Chernov | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=|AC|KC}} | image = Alex Chernov Governor of Victoria.png | image_size = | alt = | caption = Chernov at an Anzac Day ceremony in 2013 | order = 28th | office = Governor of Victoria | term_start = 8 April 2011 | term_end = 30 June 2015 | lieutenant = Marilyn Warren | monarch = Elizabeth II | premier = Ted Baillieu<br />Denis Napthine<br />Daniel Andrews | predecessor = David de Kretser | successor = Linda Dessau | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1938|5|12|df=y}} | birth_place = Vilnius, Lithuania | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | spouse = Elizabeth Hopkins | relations = | children = | education = University of Melbourne | occupation = | profession = Barrister, judge | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }}

'''Alex Chernov''' {{small|{{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=|AC|KC}}}} (born 12 May 1938)<ref>[http://www.vicbar.com.au/webdata/VicBarNewsFiles/143_Farewells.pdf Justice Alex Chernov JA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706113126/http://www.vicbar.com.au/webdata/VicBarNewsFiles/143_Farewells.pdf |date=6 July 2011 }}, ''Victorian Bar News'', Autumn 2008.</ref> is an Australian lawyer, judge and barrister who served as the 28th Governor of Victoria, from 2011 to 2015.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121112173308/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/08/3186028.htm?site=melbourne Chernov sworn in as Victoria's new Governor], ''ABC News'', 8 April 2011.</ref> Chernov also served as Vice-President of the Australian Bar Association, from 1986 to 1987, President of the Law Council of Australia, from 1990 to 1991, and the 20th Chancellor of Melbourne University, from 2009 to 2011.

==Early life== Chernov was born in Wilno, Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania) in 1938 to Russian parents, and migrated with his family to Salzburg, Austria, after the Soviet invasion, where he commenced his schooling. In 1949 his family migrated to Australia and he completed his education at Melbourne High School. He graduated as a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) from the University of Melbourne in 1961 and 1968 respectively as a resident of Ormond College.<ref name=age/>

==Career== Chernov was admitted to practise and signed the Roll of Counsel as a barrister in 1968, practising mostly in commercial law and equity.{{cn|date=May 2026}} He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1980 and later in a majority of other states. He was Chairman of the Victorian Bar (1985–86), Vice-President of the Australian Bar Association (1986–87) and President of the Law Council of Australia (1990–91). He was Vice President of LawAsia (1995–97). Chernov was the co-author with Robert Brooking of ''Tenancy Law and Practice: Victoria'' (1972) and the editor of its second edition (1980).{{cn|date=May 2026}}

In May 1997, Chernov was appointed to the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria, and in October 1998 to the Court of Appeal of that Court. He retired from the bench in February 2008.{{cn|date=May 2026}}

Chernov was elected the 20th Chancellor of the University of Melbourne in January 2009, serving in that office until he resigned to take up the office of Governor of Victoria.<ref name=age>{{cite news|first=Sushi|last=Das|url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-melbourne-man-20090206-7zzz.html|title=The Melbourne man|work=The Age|date=7 February 2009}}</ref>

==Vice-regal office== On 21 February 2011, it was announced that Chernov would become the 28th Governor of Victoria. He assumed that office on 8 April 2011.<ref>Rout, Milanda: [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/former-judge-alex-chernov-is-victorias-next-governor/story-e6frgczx-1226009442643 Former judge Alex Chernov is Victoria's next governor], ''The Australian'', 21 February 2011.</ref> On the retirement of Dame Marie Bashir as Governor of New South Wales on 1 October 2014, Chernov became the longest-serving governor of an Australian state and by custom assumed the additional office of Administrator of the Commonwealth, which exercises the powers of the Governor-General of Australia in the governor-general's absence or disability.<ref>[http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014G01602 Oath of Office as Administrator of the Commonwealth], ComLaw, 24 September 2014.</ref> Chernov's term of office ended in June 2015; former judge Linda Dessau was appointed as his replacement.

==Personal life== Chernov is married and has three children.

==Honours== Chernov was appointed Queen's Counsel in and for the State of Victoria in 1980. He was created an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours list for service to the law and education.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1134652 |title=It's an Honour |access-date=24 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202070627/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1134652 |archive-date=2 December 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 26 January 2012, Chernov was named a Companion of the Order of Australia.<ref>{{cite news|first=Julie|last=Hare|title=Australia Day honours list goes Melbourne's way|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/australia-day-honours-list-goes-melbournes-way/story-e6frgcjx-1226253772261|newspaper=The Australian|publisher=News Limited|date=26 January 2012|access-date=26 January 2012}}</ref>

On 14 May 2014, Chernov was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws by Monash University.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/records-archives/archives/honorarygraduates/c.html | title=Roll of Honorary Graduates - C - Records and Archives - Monash University }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110302121812/http://www.unimelb.edu.au/about/governance/chancellor.html University of Melbourne biography] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20130419040221/http://www.governor.vic.gov.au/victorias-governor/biography/the-hon-alex-chernov-ao-qc Governor of Victoria biography]

{{s-start}} {{s-aca}} {{s-bef|before=Ian Renard}} {{s-ttl|title=Chancellor of the University of Melbourne|years=2009–2011}} {{s-aft|after=Elizabeth Alexander}} {{s-gov}} {{s-bef|before=David de Kretser}} {{s-ttl|title=Governor of Victoria|years=2011–2015}} {{s-aft|after=Linda Dessau}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chernov, Alex}} Category:1938 births Category:Living people Category:Governors of Victoria (Australia) Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria Category:Chancellors of the University of Melbourne Category:Melbourne Law School alumni Category:20th-century King's Counsel Category:Australian King's Counsel Category:Companions of the Order of Australia Category:Lithuanian emigrants to Australia Category:Australian people of Russian descent Category:Naturalised citizens of Australia Category:Australian barristers