David Monash Bennett (1924–1984)
This article was published:
- in the Biographical Register of the Australian Labour Movement, 1788-1975
- online in 2022
This entry is from People Australia
David Monash Bennett (1924–1984) school principal, Labor Party official
Birth: 25 June 1924 at 'Iona', Toorak, Melbourne, son of Gershon Bennett, dentist, and Bertha, née Monash. Marriage: (1) 1956 in Melbourne to Sonja Bargmann. They had two sons. (2) 1973 in Melbourne to Mary Lenore Wells. Death: 1 May 1984 in Glen Iris, Victoria.
- Grandson of General Sir John Monash.
- Leading member of Victorian Fabian Society, primarily involved with educational reform.
- Principal of experimental school, ERA, at Donvale, outer-suburban Melbourne, where he employed Albert Langer, Maoist student radical, as a teacher.
- Full-time member of Whitlam-initiated Schools Commission.
- Joined Australian Labor Party as ‘essentially a man of the centre’. One of those who paved the way for federal intervention in Victorian ALP and removal of hard-line executive in 1970. President of Victorian ALP Reconstruction Committee 1970.
- Of an ‘independent, slightly eccentric nature’.
- Cause of death prostate cancer.
Sources
Recorder, 152, August 1988.
Original Publication
Additional Resources and Scholarship
- Trove search
- birth notice, Argus (Melbourne), 28 June 1924, p 11
Related Entries in NCB Sites
- Monash, John (grandfather)
Citation details
'Bennett, David Monash (1924–1984)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://labouraustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/bennett-david-monash-32415/text40202, accessed 27 April 2025.