- Leontine Cooper
Leontine Mary Jane Buisson (
22 April 1837 -12 March 1903 ), better known by her married name, Leontine Cooper, was a teacher, a pioneertrade union organiser,suffragist and campaigner for women's rights inQueensland ,Australia .Leontine was born in
Battersea ,Surrey to Frenchman Jean François (aka 'John Francis') Buisson and his English wife Dorothy. Leontine was the eldest of their 11 children and she grew up first in Battersea then inBrighton .She married Edward Cooper on
31 January 1866 inHampstead , northLondon and they emigrated toAustralia about 1871. Leontine was employed as ateacher soon after her arrival inQueensland , working first at the Albany Creek School, then as the French teacher atBrisbane Girls Grammar School .She was also a writer, with her short stories appearing in "The Boomerang" and in the mid 1890s she combined two of her interests, as she edited Queensland’s only women’s suffrage newspaper, the Star. Leontine was very well educated and was published several times on the 'letters to the editor' page of newspapers, having commented on issues of the day.
From 1894, she was president of the Women’s Franchise League in Queensland.
Leontine died in March 1903 from pneumonia, two years before Queensland women gained the vote.
External links
* [http://www.samanthamarshall.co.uk/leontine.htm List of works & mini bio]
* [http://arcq.com.au/suffrage/articles/09_Jordan.doc Article by Deborah Jordan, University of Queensland (Originally published in Hecate)]
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