Daphne Purves

Dame Daphne Helen Purves, DBE (8 November 1908 – 14 October 2008) was New Zealand's oldest Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the time of her death. Her main area of expertise was education. She saw this as the key to better conditions for women worldwide; and the passion of her life had been the International Federation of University Women of which she was president for three years from 1977. She is fondly remembered by her former students of Waitaki Girls' High School, Otago Girls High School, Otago Boys High School and Dunedin Teachers' College.^[1]

Family

Daphne Helen Cowie married Herbert Dudley Purves (CMG, ChB, MB, MSc, Hon. DSc, FRS, FRACP; 1908 – 1993) in 1939.

She is survived by her two daughters, Hilary Helen and Elizabeth Celia, and one son, Robert Dudley Purves.^[2]

IFUW Grant

The IFUW offers a Daphne Purves Grant to help women graduates to obtain specialized training and to carry out independent research in any country for a minimum period of two (2) months of work.

Death

Purves died in hospital on 14 October 2008 aged 99, 3 weeks short of her 100th birthday.

Biography

Nothing Like A Dame: A Biography of Dame Daphne Purves by Anderson, Molly (ISBN 1-877161-50-0)

References

1. ^ [1] hazard.co.nz
2. ^ [2] rsnz.org

Persondata
Name	Purves, Daphne Helen, Dame
Alternative names
Short description	New Zealand's Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Date of birth	8 November 1908
Place of birth
Date of death	14 October 2008
Place of death