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The Greatest of All - Our 50 Top Australians
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The Greatest of All - Our 50 Top Australians was a newspaper article published in The Australian on 27 January 2013, coinciding with that year's Australia Day. Complicated by News Limited journalist Billy Rule, the article listed what he considered were the top 50 individuals (including one horse) who "have helped define who we are as a people and how Australia is perceived as a country", including 'trailblazers', those who left a legacy for others to admire or benefit from, and those that engendered inspiration. # Banjo Paterson : Bush poet (born 1864, New South Wales; died 1941, New South Wales) # Sir Donald Bradman : Cricketer (born 1908, New South Wales; died 2001, South Australia) # Howard Florey: Microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate and one of the discoverers of penicillin (born 1898, South Australia; died 1968, England) # John Curtin: Australian Prime Minister during the Second World War (born 1885, Victoria; died 1945, Australian Capital Territory) # St Mary of the Cross MacKillop: Saint, nun and co-founder of rural education order Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (born 1842, New South Wales; died 1929, New South Wales) # Eddie Mabo: Torres Strait Islander and advocate for indigenous land rights (born 1936, Queensland; died 1992, Queensland) # Sir John Monash: Australian Army general and victor of the Battle of Hamel in the First World War (born 1865, Victoria; died 1931, Victoria) # Sir Douglas Mawson: Antarctic explorer (born 1882, England; died 1958, South Australia) # Edith Cowan: Social campaigner and the first woman elected to an Australian parliament (born 1861, Western Australia; died 1932, Western Australia) # Albert Jacka: Soldier in the Gallipoli campaign and recipient of the Victoria Cross (born 1893, Victoria; died 1932, Victoria) # Sir Marcus Oliphant: Physicist who assisted in the development of radar and the atomic bomb (born 1901, South Australia; died 2000, Australian Capital Territory) # Dawn Fraser: Swimmer, first woman to swim 100 metres in under one minute (born 1937, New South Wales) # : Army doctor (born 1907, Victoria; died 1993, Victoria) # Nancy Wake: Special Operations Executive agent (born 1912, New Zealand; died 2011, England) # Rod Laver: Tennis player (all time men's record of 200 Singles titles) (born 1938, Queensland) # The Rev John Flynn: Founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (born 1880, Victoria; died 1951, New South Wales) # Phar Lap: Racehorse (foaled 1926, New Zealand; died 1932, United States) # Dame Enid Lyons: First woman to be appointed to the Cabinet of Australia (born 1897, Tasmania; died 1981, Tasmania) # Bob Hawke: Prime Minister (born 1929, South Australia; died 2019 in Sydney, Australia) # Sir Charles Kingsford Smith: Aviator (born 1897, Queensland; died 1935, Andaman Sea off the coast of Burma) # Rupert Murdoch: Founder and CEO of News Corporation (born 1931, Victoria) # Bruce Kingsbury: Soldier in the Kokoda Track Campaign and Victoria Cross recipient (born 1918, Victoria; died 1942, New Guinea) # Barry Marshall: Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology (born 1951, Western Australia) # Margaret Court: Tennis player (all time women's record of 192 Singles titles) (born 1942, New South Wales) # Norman Lindsay: Illustrator and sculptor (born 1879, Victoria; died 1969, New South Wales) # Betty Cuthbert: Track athlete (four time Olympic champion) (born 1938, New South Wales; died 2017, Western Australia) # Lawrence Hargrave: Aeronautical engineer (born 1850, England; died 1915, New South Wales) # AC/DC: Rock band (established 1973, New South Wales) # Sir Robert Menzies: Australia's longest serving Prime Minister (born 1894, Victoria; died 1978, Victoria) # Dame Nellie Melba: Operatic soprano (born 1861, Victoria; died 1931, Victoria) # Lionel Rose: Boxer (first Indigenous Australian to win a world title) (born 1948, Victoria; died 2011, Victoria) # Dennis Lillee: Cricketer (born 1949, Western Australia) # Albert Namatjira: Artist (born 1902, Northern Territory (then South Australia); died 1959, Northern Territory) # Elizabeth Kenny: Nurse, advocate of physiotherapy for polio sufferers (born 1880, New South Wales; died 1952, Queensland) # Vincent Lingiari: Aboriginal land rights advocate (born 1908, Northern Territory (then South Australia); died 1988, Northern Territory) # Bart Cummings: Racehorse trainer (born 1927, South Australia; died 2015, New South Wales) # Michael Hutchence: Founding member of rock band INXS (born 1960, New South Wales; died 1997, New South Wales) # John Howard: Prime Minister (born 1939, New South Wales) # Caroline Chisholm: Philanthropist (born 1808, England; died 1877, England) # Cyril Callister: Food technologist and inventor of Vegemite (born 1893, Victoria; died 1949, Victoria) # Barry Humphries: Actor and writer (born 1934, Victoria) # Edward Hargraves: Discoverer of gold in Australia (born 1816, England; died 1891, New South Wales) # Errol Flynn: Actor (born 1909, Tasmania; died 1959, Canada) # Slim Dusty: Country singer (born 1927, New South Wales; died 2003, New South Wales) # Sir Henry Parkes: New South Wales Premier who advocated for the Federation of Australia (born 1815, England; died 1896, New South Wales) # Greg Norman: Golfer (born 1955, Queensland) # Reg Grundy: Television entrepreneur (born 1923, New South Wales; died 2016, Bermuda) # Fred Hollows: Ophthalmologist and humanitarian (born 1929, New Zealand; died 1993, New South Wales) # Richie Benaud: Cricketer (born 1930, New South Wales; died 2015, New South Wales) # "Honorary Australians": Billy Rule included a category for all non-citizens whose contributions had been integral to shaping Australia, including English and Dutch explorers James Cook, Matthew Flinders, William Dampier and Dirk Hartog, botanist Joseph Banks, US General Douglas MacArthur, Dutch soccer coach Guus Hiddink, Irish Australian Rules Footballer Jim Stynes and (incorrectly identified as a non-Australian citizen) Russian boxer Kostya Tszyu. Other editions Other countries have produced similar shows; see Greatest Britons spin-offs See Also
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