Teacher, Artist, Broadcaster, Linguist & Humanitarian
Location: Pres*C*112
Ethel May “Monte” Punshon was an Australian teacher, artist, broadcaster, linguist and humanitarian whose life spanned more than a century. Born at Ballarat, Victoria, she was the eldest child of Alfred James Punshon and Elizabeth Ann nee Lyons. Educated at state schools in St Kilda and Ballarat, she also studied drawing at the Ballarat School of Mines and initially hoped to pursue a career as an artist before entering the teaching profession.
While working as a teacher, Punshon became associated with J. C. Williamson’s Juvenile Opera Company, teaching child performers during touring productions. To avoid embarrassing her father, who disapproved of theatrical work, she adopted the surname Montague and became known to the children as “Miss Monte”, a nickname that remained with her throughout her long life. She later gained qualifications in drama and art while continuing to teach and participate in Melbourne’s cultural life.
Following the First World War, Punshon worked as an artist in the photographic studio of William Donovan Joynt VC (q.v.), proprietor of Dominion Press. She subsequently established her own art and design studio before becoming involved in the emerging medium of radio broadcasting. In 1925 she was engaged by the retailer Buckley & Nunn to present a twice-weekly fashion programme on Melbourne station 3LO, becoming one of Australia’s early radio personalities.
A journey through Japan, Korea, China and Hong Kong in 1929 inspired a lifelong interest in Asia. Returning to Melbourne, she studied Japanese and developed a deep appreciation for Japanese culture. During the 1930s she continued teaching while pursuing language studies that later proved invaluable during the Second World War.
During the war, Punshon served at the Tatura Internment Camp in Victoria, where Japanese civilians were detained. Because she could speak Japanese, she became a senior supervisor and earned the affectionate nickname “Auntie Monty” among many detainees. Former internees later remembered her kindness and concern for their welfare, and decades after the war she was invited to Japan by former detainees and the Japan-Australia Association. During a reunion in Kobe in 1980, former internees described finding “solace in her smile and care”, particularly because she spoke their language.
After the war she taught English to newly arrived migrants at camps including Bonegilla and Somers and continued working in education. She later spent a year operating a school in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) and returned to Japan in later life to teach English. Throughout these years she welcomed many overseas students into her home and became an informal ambassador for friendship and understanding between Australia and Asia.
Recognition came late but was significant. In 1980 she visited Japan as the guest of former internees, receiving an enthusiastic welcome from people she had known during the war. In 1988 she was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, one of Japan’s highest honours bestowed on foreign citizens, in recognition of her contribution to relations between Australia and Japan. She also became a member of Mensa at the age of 103 and served as a roving ambassador for Expo 88 at the age of 105.
In her later years Punshon attracted public attention as one of Australia’s oldest citizens and published her autobiography, Monte-San: The Times Between. A woman of remarkable curiosity and independence, she remained active and engaged with new ideas well into her second century of life. Historians have since recognised her as an important figure in Australia’s cultural, educational and social history.
Ethel May “Monte” Punshon died at Heidelberg on 4 April 1989 aged 106 years and was buried at Brighton General Cemetery on 7 April 1989 in the family grave with her parents, Alfred and Elizabeth. Her extraordinary life encompassed teaching, theatre, art, broadcasting, language study, migrant education and international friendship, leaving a legacy that connected Australia and Japan across much of the twentieth century.
In her later years Punshon also spoke publicly about her lifelong attraction to women. When media attention focused on this aspect of her life after she came out publicly in her centenarian years, she responded characteristically:
“Goodness, surely that’s not the most interesting thing about me!”
Sources:
Furphy, Samuel, “Ethel May (Monte) Punshon (1882-1989)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
Morris-Suzuki, Tessa, “Monte Punshon: a remarkable woman’s life”, Australian Academy of the Humanities, July 2024.
“Wartime supervisor invited to Japan”, The Canberra Times, 12 January 1980.
“Ex-camp matron in Japan”, The Canberra Times, 6 April 1980.
“Internees greet ex-warder”, The Canberra Times, 8 April 1980.
“Obituary: Ethel May Punshon. A woman of many firsts dies aged 106”, The Canberra Times, 7 April 1989.
Punshon, Ethel May (Monte), Monte-San: The Times Between: Life Lies Hidden, 1987.