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No one in Australia's history has been as honoured as Sir Ninian Stephen – he was awarded no fewer than five knighthoods in his lifetime. Nor has anyone managed to achieve so much with such modesty and ease.
Peter Gebhardt became a County Court judge after an outstanding career as a school principal. During his 10 years on the bench he brought to his judgments a compassion that mirrored his care for students.
Iona Opie, who has died aged 94, was, with her husband Peter, one of the world's greatest experts on the folklore, games and beliefs of childhood; the Opies' study of children's culture, The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren (1959), described "the greatest of savage tribes – the worldwide fraternity of children" – a society that few people until then understood or even realised existed. The Opies began their quest out of curiosity about the origins of nursery rhymes. Shortly after they got married in 1943, they saw a ladybird during a walk in the countryside. Recalling the rhyme "Ladybird, Ladybird, fly away home", they wondered where it had originated and discovered that the only available anthology of nursery rhymes had been published in 1842. "Ladybird, Ladybird", for example, is known in some form more or less everywhere – including China. Humpty Dumpty is "Boule Boule" in France, "Lille Trille" in Denmark and "Humpelken Pumpelken" in Germany.
Elvis pointed to Domino, who was in the room, and said, "There's the real king of rock 'n' roll."
Describing George Young as one of Australia's premier hard rock producers and songwriters only tells a part of his extraordinary story.
Danielle Darrieux, who has died aged 100, was the quintessentially Gallic screen queen of the 1930s and 1940s and with roles in more than 85 films inspired the distinctive chic and elegant look of several generations of French actresses. She could claim to have been France's first celluloid sex symbol, if not the precursor to the "sex kitten" Brigitte Bardot. "Fifty million Frenchmen can't be wrong!" trumpeted the posters for her debut Hollywood film in 1938. Long before Bardot, nearly 20 years her junior, styled herself BB, Danielle Darrieux had become known throughout France by her initials DD. "For 40 years she has represented to many the ideal French woman," noted the British film historian David Shipman in 1972. In fact her career lasted more than double that, one of the lengthiest in film history.
Moira Peters made her mark through the unfailing interest and wise advice and encouragement she gave to family, friends and many others who filled her life.
Michael "Micky" Ashford was a surprise baby, and became a special one. Micky rose to meet a number of challenges and he paved the way in highlighting the abuse of people with intellectual disabilities.
Harris van Beek was a powerful force who had the gentlest bearing.
Wali wrote of Afghan women: "During this entire time I carried with me their pleading voices and ultimately their screams, while the world looked away."
Oswald Longfield Brett spent much time sketching ships in Sydney Harbour and imagining the day when he could go to sea. He also drew inspiration for painting from his mother Estelle Brett (nee Mutton), a talented amateur portrait and landscape artist. Both Estelle and Oswald's sister Judith encouraged him with his painting even later in his life. Os, as he was affectionately called by his friends, knew at an early age that he would be a professional artist concentrating entirely on ships and the sea.
If you have ever been relieved your dental visit was more pleasant than expected, you might have Evelyn Howe to thank. Evelyn, born a Presbyterian minister's daughter, became a clinical psychologist, dental psychology pioneer and the first woman to earn a dental PhD in Sydney. Howe shined bright with wit, humour and kindness, but perhaps it's her serious work that will enlighten the future most.Â
As an adolescent Jacques Adler made choices that defeated most adults. Faced with the Nazi occupation of Paris and the persecution of the Jewish community, he chose to resist.
Michel Jouvet, who has died aged 91, was one of the first researchers to describe rapid eye movement sleep, the crucial stage when the brain dreams and processes experiences. Jouvet, working in the early 1960s at the University Claude Bernard in Lyon, mapped out the brain structures that generate REM. He compared the discovery of REM sleep to finding "a new continent in the brain". REM sleep is found in all warm-blooded mammals and birds. Jouvet discovered it initially in cats, and later studied penguins, which stay awake for long periods during the breeding season. He implanted an expensive radio-telemetry chip in an emperor penguin in Antarctica, but the valuable research subject was released into the sea and eaten by a killer whale.
The death of Tony Sagona has deprived the field of near-eastern archaeology in general, and the University of Melbourne in particular, of a most distinguished scholar and a fine man.
Doug McColl returned to Warracknabeal in 1949 after training as a pharmacist in Melbourne. He spent the rest of his life serving his local community in countless ways.
Alan Cassell left his car factory job in 1950s Birmingham to seek opportunities in Australia - and became one of his new country's most admired actors.
Despite her own health problems, Christine McMenamin had a stellar rise as a research scientist, doctor and then leader of Monash University's medical training program.
Peter Poole met his first computer in Sydney University's School of Physics in 1957. His lifelong passion for computer science began.
He regarded his role as a position of trust, and never breached the royals' confidence.

A brilliant polymath and political scientist who could also have held professorships in history and public law.
Tony Booth, the actor, who has died aged 85, was best known as the abrasive "Scouse git" of a son-in-law who got under Alf Garnett's skin in the BBC comedy series Till Death Us Do Part; in later life he sometimes performed the same function for his real-life son-in-law, the former prime minister Tony Blair.
Engineer built vital links in the state's road system
An encounter with rock star Elvis Presley was a defining moment of Tom Petty's childhood.
For 40 years, Joe Bowen worked in the family business of moving houses - 3000 of them.
Umpire Graham Carbery was the victim of one of football's most notorious incidents, but away from the headlines he lived a quiet life documenting the history of Australia's gay movements.
In the words of one of her child patients, Joyce Alley "helped to unlock and set free the precious gift of speech and joyful song in many young voices".
Rosemary Balmford, the first woman appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, was an inspirational role model for women in the legal profession.
The first woman in a wheelchair to teach in a classroom.
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