Germaine Greer – Emeritus President

Germaine is an active supporter, attending a swath of events on Buglife’s behalf, from opening our new Head Office in Peterborough to high profile events like the State of Nature launch.

Born on 29th January 1939, in Melbourne, Germaine is an Australian theorist, academic and journalist, and is regarded as having been a major feminist voice of the mid-20th century.

Books and literature:

She has written passionately about the restoration of an Australian rainforest in south-east Queensland. Educated at the University of Melbourne, University of Sydney and University of Cambridge, her honorary roles include emeritus professor in English Literature and Comparative Studies at the University of Warwick.

Germaine’s ideas have created controversy ever since her book The Female Eunuch became an international best-seller in 1970, bringing her both adulation and opposition. She is also the author of many other books, including Sex and Destiny: The Politics of Human Fertility (1984); The Change: Women, Ageing and the Menopause (1991); Shakespeare’s Wife (2007); and The Whole Woman(1999); White Beech: The Rainforest Years (due 2015).

Notable background:

1990 – Germaine has made frequent appearances on the BBC’s satirical television panel show Have I Got News for You, including one in the very first series in 1990.

1998 – Germaine wrote the episode Make Love not War for the television documentary series Cold War.

1999 – She sat for a nude photograph by the Australian photographer Polly Borland. The photo was part of an exhibition at Britain’s National Portrait Gallery in 2000. It later appeared in a book entitled Polly Borland: Australians.

2005 – Germaine was one of nine contestants in Celebrity Big Brother. She had previously said that the show was “as civilised as looking through the keyhole in your teenager’s bedroom door”.

2006 – In September, Germaine’s column in The Guardian about the death of Australian Steve Irwin attracted both criticism and support. She also presented a BBC Radio 4 documentary on the life of American composer and rock guitarist Frank Zappa.