{{Short description|New Zealand writer and academic historian (1923–2023)}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} thumb|right|Dunmore in 1977 '''John Dunmore''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CNZM|JP}} (6 August 1923 – 1 May 2023) was a French-born New Zealand academic, historian, author, playwright, and publisher.
==Biography== Dunmore was born in Trouville-sur-Mer, France, on 6 August 1923.<ref name="HBTQ"/> He lived in Jersey under German occupation during World War II, and then in England, where he received a BA from the University of London. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1950. He completed a PhD under historian J. C. Beaglehole at Victoria University of Wellington in 1962, studying the French contribution to the exploration of the Pacific Ocean in the 18th century. He was professor of French, head of the Department of Modern Languages, and dean of Humanities at Massey University, from which he retired in 1985.<ref>These facts are from pp. 9–11 of ''Pacific Journeys''.</ref>
Dunmore's main field of history was the exploration of the Pacific, particularly by French navigators. He wrote two major biographies of La Pérouse, and translated and edited his journals (which he rediscovered after they had been misfiled in the French National Archives).<ref>''Pacific Journeys'', p. 12.</ref> In addition, he wrote biographies and edited the journals of both de Surville and of Bougainville. His biography of de Surville, ''The fateful voyage of the St. Jean Baptiste'', won the Wattie Book of the Year award in 1970.<ref name=autogenerated1>[http://masseynews.massey.ac.nz/2006/Massey_News/issue-06/stories/05-06-06.html Massey News Article – Champion of the Humanities] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504000143/http://masseynews.massey.ac.nz/2006/Massey_News/issue-06/stories/05-06-06.html |date= 4 May 2006 }}</ref>
His work was highly regarded by scholars as well as by the public: * "John Dunmore has done more than anyone to bring our attention to the achievements of eighteenth and nineteenth century French explorers of the Pacific"<ref>[http://www.captaincooksociety.com/ccsu219.htm#84 CCS – Book Reviews Part 9]</ref> * "''cette étonnante biographie, élégamment écrite'' (this stunning and elegantly written biography (of Bougainville))"<ref>[http://www.ambafrance-nz.org/article.php3?id_article=569 "Storms and Dreams" de John Dunmore (mars 2005) – La France en Nouvelle-Zélande] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008102041/http://www.ambafrance-nz.org/article.php3?id_article=569 |date= 8 October 2007 }}</ref> * "The succinct and perceptive evaluation of the voyages and the Anglo-French rivalry is of great use"<ref>Review by Samuel Clyde McCulloch in ''The Journal of Modern History'', Vol. 43, No. 3 (September 1971), p. 518.</ref>
Dunmore wrote a variety of other books, including a series of thrillers under the pseudonym "Jason Calder".<ref>''Pacific Journeys'', p. 13.</ref> He produced a book of 18th-century recipes, ''Mrs Cook's book of recipes for mariners in distant seas''. Some of the recipes were derived from the logs of explorers of the day. He also wrote plays,<ref>''Pacific Journeys'', p. 13. See also ''An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'' at http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/L/LiteratureDrama/RadioDrama/en</ref> held office in the Playwrights Association of New Zealand,<ref>[http://www.playwrights.org.nz/contacts.htm Panz Contacts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004060936/http://www.playwrights.org.nz/contacts.htm |date= 4 October 2006 }}</ref> and wrote a history of the association.
In his capacity as professor of French, Dunmore was president of the New Zealand ''Federation des Alliances Francaises'', a post he held for twenty years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interview with John Dunmore |url=https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.520310 |website=tiaki.natlib.govt.nz |publisher=Alliance Francaise Centenary oral history project |access-date=6 May 2023 |date=6 December 2006}}</ref>
Dunmore established two separate publishing firms, the Dunmore Press (1969–1984) and Heritage Press (1985–2004).<ref>''Pacific Journeys'', p. 13. See also {{cite web|url=http://www.heritagepress.co.nz/about.html |title=Heritage Press Ltd > About Us |accessdate=25 December 2006 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929211128/http://www.heritagepress.co.nz/about.html |archivedate=29 September 2007 }}</ref> The Dunmore Press, a substantial New Zealand publisher of academic books, eventually became part of the Thomson publishing group, in 2004.<ref>[http://www.higher.cengage.com.au/default.aspx?et=2&ei=503&subSiteID=13&ibcClientID=5771301&ibcClientToken=177235388 Cengage Imprints]</ref>
Dunmore died on 1 May 2023, at the age of 99.<ref>{{cite web |title=John Dunmore |url=https://notices.nzherald.co.nz/nz/obituaries/nzherald-nz/name/john-dunmore-obituary?n=john-dunmore&pid=204411759&fhid=12720 |publisher=Legacy.com |newspaper=The New Zealand Herald |date=3 May 2023 |access-date=2 May 2023}}</ref>
==Honours and awards== In 1990, Dunmore was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.<ref name="HBTQ">{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Alister |last2=Coddington |first2=Deborah |authorlink1=Alister Taylor |authorlink2=Deborah Coddington |title=Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand |year=1994 |publisher=New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa |location=Auckland |isbn=0-908578-34-2 |page=128}}</ref> In the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature and historical research.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2001 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2001 |date=4 June 2001 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=31 October 2019}}</ref> The French Government appointed Dunmore as a Chevalier dans la Légion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honor) in 1976, and an Officier dans l'Ordre des Palmes académiques (Officer of the Academic Palms) in 1986.<ref>pp. 9–11 of ''Pacific Journeys''.</ref> He was promoted to Officier de la Légion d'honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honor) in 2007, becoming only the tenth New Zealander to hold this level of the order<ref>Dunmore promoted to Officer of the Legion of Honour http://www.ambafrance-nz.org/spip.php?article1022{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and the third New Zealander to be promoted to the superior rank of Officer after Lieutenant Colonel James Waddell and Nancy Wake.<ref>M. Brewer, 'New Zealand and the Legion d'honneur: Officiers, Commandeurs and Dignites', ''The Volunteers: The Journal of the New Zealand Military Historical Society'', 35(3), March 2010, pp.131–147.</ref>
Massey University awarded Dunmore an honorary DLitt degree in 2006.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> Fellow Pacific scholars honoured him with a Festschrift: {{cite book |editor1=Cropp, Glynnis M |editor-link=Glynnis Cropp |editor2=Noel R Watts |editor3=Roger D J Collins |editor4=K R Howe |title=Pacific journeys: Essays in honour of John Dunmore |year=2005 |publisher=Victoria University Press |location=Wellington, New Zealand |isbn=0-86473-507-3}}
The Dunmore Medal for research into French achievements and development in the Pacific is named after him.<ref>Award of the Dunmore Medal {{cite web |url=http://www.ambafrance-nz.org/spip.php?article1190 |title=Raylene Ramsay awarded the John Dunmore medal – Ambassade de France en Nouvelle Zélande |accessdate=22 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728075236/http://www.ambafrance-nz.org/spip.php?article1190 |archivedate=28 July 2011 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" |- | 60px | Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (New Zealand) 2001 |- | 60px | New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal (New Zealand) 1990 |- | 60px | Officier de la Légion d'Honneur (France) 2007 |- | 60px | Officier des Palmes académiques (France) 1986 |- |}
==Books== This list of books by Dunmore is representative but by no means complete. He also wrote many articles, book chapters, reviews, plays and other items. A list of his scholarly writings to 2005 is included in ''Pacific Journeys'' at pp. 15–19.
===Biographies=== * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=Wild cards: eccentric characters from New Zealand's past |year=2006 |publisher=New Holland Publishers |location=Auckland, New Zealand |isbn=1-86966-132-X}} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title= Mounsieur Baret: First woman around the world 1766–68 |year= 2002 |publisher= Heritage Press |location= Auckland, New Zealand |isbn= 0-908708-54-8 }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=Where Fate Beckons: The life of Jean-François de la Pérouse |year= 2006 |publisher= Exisle |location= Auckland, New Zealand |isbn= 0-908988-53-2 }} Published also by ABC Books, Sydney, Australia. * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=Storms and Dreams. Louis de Bougainville: soldier, explorer, statesman |year= 2005 |publisher= Exisle |location= Auckland, New Zealand |isbn= 0-908988-57-5 }} Published also by ABC Books, Sydney, Australia & University of Alaska Press, 2007, {{ISBN|9781602230002}} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=Pacific Explorer: The life of Jean-François de la Pérouse, 1741–1788 |year= 1985 |publisher= Naval Institute Press |location= Annapolis, MD |isbn= 0-87021-519-1 }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |author2=Touchard, M-C |title= La Pérouse : explorateur du Pacifique |year= 1986 |publisher= Payot |location= Paris |language= French |isbn= 2-228-14060-0 }} Translation of ''Pacific Explorer''. * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=Norman Kirk: A Portrait |year= 1972 |publisher= New Zealand Books |location= Palmerston North, New Zealand }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title= The fateful voyage of the St. Jean Baptiste: a true account of M. de Surville's expedition to New Zealand & the unknown South Seas in the years 1769–70 |year= 1969 |publisher= Pegasus |location= Christchurch, New Zealand }}
===Translated and edited journals of explorers=== * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=The Pacific journal of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, 1767–1768 |year=2002 |publisher= Hakluyt Society |location=London |isbn= 0-904180-78-6}} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=The journal of Jean-François de Galaup de la Pérouse, 1785–1788, vol. 1 |year=1994 |publisher= Hakluyt Society |location=London |isbn= 0-904180-38-7}} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=The journal of Jean-François de Galaup de la Pérouse, 1785–1788, vol. 2 |year=1995 |publisher= Hakluyt Society |location=London |isbn= 0-904180-38-7}} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=The expedition of the St. Jean-Baptiste to the Pacific, 1769–1770: from journals of Jean de Surville and Guillaume Labé |year=1981 |publisher= Hakluyt Society |location=London |isbn= 0-904180-11-5}}
===Other historical works=== * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=Playwrights in New Zealand: A short history of the Playwrights Association of New Zealand |year=2001 |publisher= Heritage Press |location=Auckland, New Zealand |isbn= 978-0-908708-51-2}} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=Chronology of Pacific History |year=2000 |publisher= Heritage Press|location=Auckland, New Zealand |isbn=978-0-908708-49-9 }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=Visions & realities: France in the Pacific, 1695–1995 |year=1997 |publisher= Heritage Press|location=Waikanae, New Zealand |isbn=978-0-908708-41-3 }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=Who's who in Pacific navigation |year=1991 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |location=Honolulu |isbn=978-0-8248-1350-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinpacific00dunm }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=Around the shining waters: a history of Featherston County Council |year=1991 |publisher= Heritage Press|location=Waikanae, New Zealand |isbn=978-0-908708-22-2 }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |author2=Maurice de Brossard |title= Le Voyage de Lapérouse (2 volumes) |year= 1985 |publisher= Imprimerie nationale |location= Paris |language= French |isbn= 978-2-11-080857-8 }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=French explorers in the Pacific. Vol 1: The eighteenth century |year=1965 |publisher= Clarendon Press |location=Oxford }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=French explorers in the Pacific. Vol 2: The nineteenth century |year=1969 |publisher= Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-821540-0}}
===Fiction=== "Jason Calder" is a pseudonym for John Dunmore. * {{cite book |last=Calder |first=Jason |title= Target Margaret Thatcher |year= 1981 |publisher= Hale|location= London |isbn= 0-7091-9272-X }} * {{cite book |last=Calder |first=Jason |title= The O'Rourke affair |year= 1978 |publisher= Dunmore Press|location= Palmerston North, New Zealand }} * {{cite book |last=Calder |first=Jason |title= A wreath for the Springboks |year= 1977 |publisher= Dunmore Press|location= Palmerston North, New Zealand |isbn= 0-908564-04-X }} * {{cite book |last=Calder |first=Jason |title= The man who shot Rob Muldoon |year= 1976 |publisher= Dunmore Press|location= Palmerston North, New Zealand |isbn= 0-908564-10-4 }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title= Meurtre à Tahiti (Murder in Tahiti) |year= 1971 |publisher= Longman Paul|location= Auckland, New Zealand |language= French |isbn= 0-582-68761-6 }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title= Le mystère d'Omboula (The mystery of Omboula) |year= 1964 |publisher= Paul's Book Arcade|location= Hamilton, New Zealand |language= French }}
===Other=== * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title= Mrs Cook's book of recipes for mariners in distant seas |year= 2006 |publisher= Exisle |location= Auckland, New Zealand |isbn= 0-908988-64-8 }} Also published by the Australian National Maritime Museum. * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |others= Anonymous (1806) |title= La Peyrouse dans l'Isle de Tahiti (La Pérouse in the island of Tahiti) |year= 2006 |publisher=Modern Humanities Research Association |location= London |language= French |isbn= 0-947623-72-8 }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title= I remember tomorrow: an autobiography |year= 1998 |publisher= Heritage Press |location= Waikanae, New Zealand |isbn= 0-908708-44-0 }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title= The playwright's workbook: A practical manual to help you craft a better play |year= 1993 |publisher= Heritage Press |location= Waikanae, New Zealand |isbn= 0-908708-30-0 }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title= An Anthology of French Scientific Prose |year= 1973 |publisher= Hutchinson Educational |location= London |language= French, English |isbn= 0-09-112331-3 }} * {{cite book |last=Dunmore |first=John |title= Success at university: a practical guide |year= 1968 |publisher= Whitcombe and Tombs |location= Christchurch, New Zealand }}
== See also == * List of foreign recipients of the Légion d'Honneur * List of Foreign recipients of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.dunmore.co.nz Dunmore Press] (''{{as of|March 2023}} the site still exists and is being updated'')
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunmore, John}} Category:1923 births Category:2023 deaths Category:20th-century biographers Category:20th-century New Zealand historians Category:20th-century New Zealand male writers Category:20th-century New Zealand novelists Category:21st-century New Zealand historians Category:Academic staff of Massey University Category:Alumni of the University of London Category:Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Category:New Zealand male biographers Category:New Zealand biographers Category:New Zealand crime fiction writers Category:New Zealand justices of the peace Category:New Zealand male novelists Category:New Zealand recipients of the Legion of Honour Category:Officers of the Legion of Honour Category:Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Category:People from Trouville-sur-Mer Category:Victoria University of Wellington alumni