Helen Leach Explained

Birth Name:Helen May Keedwell
Birth Date:3 July 1945
Birth Place:Wellington, New Zealand
Workplaces:University of Otago
Alma Mater:University of Otago
Thesis1 Title:Horticulture in prehistoric New Zealand: an investigation of the function of the stone walls of Palliser Bay
Thesis1 Url:https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/handle/10523/6200
Thesis1 Year:1976
Doctoral Advisor:Charles Higham
Relatives:Nancy Tichborne (sister)

Helen May Leach (née Keedwell; born 3 July 1945) is a New Zealand academic specialising in food anthropology. She is currently a professor emerita at the University of Otago.[1] [2]

Early life and family

Born Helen May Keedwell in Wellington on 3 July 1945, Leach is the daughter of Peggy and Harvey Keedwell.[3] [4] [5] [6] Her older sister, Nancy Tichborne, was a watercolour artist.[6]

After moving with her family to Dunedin in the early 1950s, Leach was educated at Otago Girls' High School.[7] She went on to study at the University of Otago, from where she graduated Master of Arts.[8]

Career

Leach was appointed to the staff of the University of Otago in 1972, and was appointed to a chair in anthropology in 2002.[8] Originally trained in archaeology, she completed a PhD in 1976 at Otago, with a thesis titled Horticulture in prehistoric New Zealand: an investigation of the function of the stone walls of Palliser Bay.[9]

Leach has studied food, eating, cooking, associated equipment and paraphernalia in New Zealand. Her interests range from prehistoric horticulture and the evolution of human diet[10] to the history of cooking, the origins of recipes as well as the development of kitchens and batteries de cuisine in the twentieth century. Her extensive collection of cookery books, especially community cookbooks, has provided a significant resource for colleagues' investigations [11] that compensated for the incompleteness of that of the National Library of New Zealand. Reviewing Leach's most recent book Kitchens, Barbara Santich observed that "New Zealanders are indeed fortunate to have Helen Leach as guide, guardian and safe-keeper of their gastronomic past",[12] noting too that the work was illustrated with images of artefacts from Leach's own personal collection.

When Leach retired from the University of Otago in 2008, she was granted the title of emeritus professor.[8]

Honours

Leach was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2004.[13] In the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to culinary anthropology.[14]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Emeritus Professors. PDF. Otago.ac.nz. 3 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20170407053935/http://www.otago.ac.nz/study/otago628508.pdf. 7 April 2017. dead.
  2. Web site: Emeritus Professor Helen Leach. Otago.ac.nz. 3 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180211071825/http://www.otago.ac.nz/anthropology/staff/otago112739.html. 11 February 2018. dead.
  3. Web site: Kiwi domestic goddess Helen Leach praised internationally - virtually unknown in NZ . 22 October 2016 . New Zealand Herald.
  4. Web site: Intensification in the Pacific: A Critique of the Archaeological Criteria and Their Application.
  5. News: Births . 3 July 1945 . Evening Post . 7 June 2018 . 1.
  6. News: Nancy Tichborne's new start . 21 February 2014 . The Press . 7 June 2018 . Kim . Newth.
  7. News: Generous donation from 1954 reunion group . 2014 . Otago Girls High School mid year report . 7 June 2018.
  8. Book: Emeritus professors . Calendar . 7 June 2018 . 2018 . University of Otago . Dunedin . 121 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180119124800/http://www.otago.ac.nz/study/otago672311.pdf . 19 January 2018 . dead .
  9. Leach . Helen . 1976 . Doctoral thesis . Horticulture in prehistoric New Zealand : an investigation of the function of the stone walls of Palliser Bay . OUR Archive, University of Otago . 10523/6200 .
  10. Book: Stroppy Old Women. Leach. Helen. Paul Little Books. 2015. 978-0-473-25860-3. Auckland New Zealand. 147. Nissen. Wendyl. Oakes. Guy. Domestic Miss. Little. Paul.
  11. Symons. Michael. 2009. From Modernity to Postmodernity: As Revealed in the Titles of New Zealand Recipe Books. Food and Foodways. 10.1080/07409710903356307.
  12. Santich. Barbara. February 2015. Review of: Helen Leach: Kitchens: The New Zealand Kitchen in the 20th Century. Petit Propos Cuilinaire. 102. 121–123. 0142-7857.
  13. Web site: 2004 New fellows . 17 November 2004 . Royal Society of New Zealand . 7 June 2018.
  14. Web site: Queen's Birthday honours list 2018 . 4 June 2018 . Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet . 4 June 2018.
  15. Book: Leach. Helen M.. From kai to Kiwi kitchen : New Zealand's culinary traditions and cookbooks. 2010. Otago University Press. Dunedin, New Zealand. 9781877372759.
  16. Book: Leach. Helen. The pavlova story : a slice of New Zealand's culinary history. 2008. Otago University Press. Dunedin, N.Z.. 9781877372575.
  17. Book: Leach. Helen. Cultivating myths : fiction, fact & fashion in garden history. 2000. Godwit. Auckland, N.Z.. 1869620496.
  18. Book: Leach, Helen. 1,000 Years of Gardening in New Zealand. A.H. & A. W. Reed. 1984. 0-589-01488-9. Auckland.
  19. Book: Leach, H.M.. Subsistence Patterns in Prehistoric N.Z.. Anthropology Department University of Otago. 1969.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Helen Leach".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.