Vale Helen Hill
(BA (Hons) Sociology, Monash; MA Political Science, Monash; DipEd (Tertiary) UniMelb, PhD ANU), Ordem de Timor-Leste, 22 February 1945 – 7 May 2024.
With great sadness, the TLSA shares the news that our co-founder, Dr Helen Hill, passed away last night, 7 May, at Caritas Christi Hospice in Melbourne.
Dr. Helen Mary Hill was a pioneer of Australia-Timor-Leste solidarity, first visiting Timor-Leste in 1975. Her publication ‘The Timor Story’ (1976) was one of the first academic works to alert the world to Timor-Leste’s desire for self-determination, and to the unfolding predicament of the East Timorese people under occupation. Helen was also a co-founder of the Australia-East Timor Association (AETA). Helen remained one of the relatively few Australian academic voices to speak consistently and openly in support of the East Timorese right to self-determination through the 1970s and 1980s. Her MA thesis (1978) ‘FRETILIN: The origins, ideologies and strategies of a nationalist movement in East Timor’ was published by the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Monash, and then republished by Otford Press in 2002. Her patiently researched work became extremely valuable resources for East Timorese and international solidarity activists globally during the occupation.
Helen was an original and brilliant thinker, capable of synthesising ideas across intellectual disciplines, and challenged power consistently: not just in her writings, but in her professional and public life, as a tireless organiser and speaker at meetings, conferences and workshops.
Helen was also the co-founder of the TLSA, and a key organiser of our inaugural 2005 conference in Melbourne. For many years, Helen was then a key organiser of the VU-UNTL ‘Co-operating with Timor-Leste’ development conferences conducted in parallel with TLSA biennial conferences in Dili, from 2009 onward. In 2013, the TLSA organised a ‘Festschrift’ tribute to Helen’s academic work, ‘Celebrating the work of Helen Hill’, the proceedings of which can be found online (see comment below).
Helen received the Order of Timor-Leste for her lifetime of solidarity to Timor-Leste in 2014. She was also Profesora Convidada at the Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e (UNTL), and remained an Honorary Fellow at Victoria University, where she worked from 1991 until her retirement. As many on this list know, Helen remained completely committed to Timor-Leste beyond her retirement, whether in Dili, or during her briefer stays in Melbourne.
Messages of support in recent days from the President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta; the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, Xanana Gusmão; and former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, attest to the scale of importance of Helen as a scholar, and activist, over five decades.
Helen was a deeply inspiring and influential figure for many of us, and indeed for generations of Timorese and Australians alike. Helen’s activist, academic and policy contributions to Timor-Leste have been enormous over the years, from the 1970s to the present.
The TLSA pays heartfelt tribute to our founder, friend, colleague, and a true hero of international solidarity with Timor-Leste, and of Timor-Leste studies. We send our deepest condolences to Helen’s family, colleagues and friends.
Farewell, dear Helen.
Details of the funeral arrangements will be posted on the AETA Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AETAMEL
Timor-Leste Studies Association Resources on the Life and Work of Helen Hill:
Timor Leste Studies Association 2013 Festschrift Panel Celebrating the work of Helen Hill
Timor-Leste Studies Association 