Now here is one of modern Australia’s greatest Aboriginal people who apart from being recognisable as the man on our polymer fifty dollar banknote, was also a preacher and inventor.
David Unaipons story is one of a lifelong devotion to crusading for the welfare and causes of the Aboriginal people, as a preacher of his own faith and also his great foresight as a man moving into the modern era of technical developments. Organ playing, boot making and book keeping were other skills that he excelled at.
He believed strongly that he would one day uncover the secrets to perpetual motion. He had a string of patents and various other inventions that earned him the title of “Australia’s Leonardo” and “Black Genius”. Among his many contributions to the world was a newly redesigned shearing hand piece. He also noted the aerodynamic properties of the boomerang and drew parallels to the blades of today’s helicopters and this was long before the helicopter was even invented. He was never a rich man and as a result he could not maintain his patents which sadly lapsed.
He was a prolific writer and his writing preceded other Aboriginal writers by some 30 years. He was Australias first indigenous author. One book, “Myths and Legends of the Australian Aboriginal” which is still in the manuscripts section of the Mitchell Library contains his versions of Aboriginal myths. The book show strong influences of the classics as well as his undertaking of studies into Egyptology.
In recent news it is alleged that his nephew instigated a series of court battles with Reserve Bank Australia over the right to use his image on the $50 dollar note. The 30 million dollar claim was however overturned by the courts as RBA claimed that the rights were given to them by his surviving daughter although her claim to this title were never properly established.
Altogether a fascinating Australian and a great ambassador of the Australian Aboriginal people.
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