Eva Cox AO was born Eva Hauser in Vienna, Austria in 1938 and became stateless very shortly after, as her parents were Jewish. She and her mother fled to England as penniless refugees in 1939. Aged three she became a lifelong feminist when refused a drum at kindergarten because they were for boys only. In 1946 they moved to Rome to join her father in job in the UNRRA, resettling displaced persons. In 1948 they arrived in Australia, she went to Sydney Girls High and Sydney University where she failed to complete a degree. In 1972 she returned to studies as a sole parent at UNSW completing a BA Hons in Sociology. She also joined the newly established Women’s Electoral Lobby to fix women’s status. She was director of NCOSS from 1977 to 1980. Then followed a range of jobs in advocacy and research consulting and returned to academia at UTS from 1994 to 2008. She is currently an Adjunct Professor there, looking at Indigenous issues.
She delivered the ABC Boyer Lectures on A Truly Civil Society in 1995, part of a lifetime commitment to feminists changing societies so we all shared fairer collective rights and responsibilities.