Background
Lewis was born on 21 April 1939 in Morawa, Western Australia, a mid west country town approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) north of the state capital, Perth.
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Irwin Lewis
Edit Profilepainter Australian-rules footballer
Career
A Yamatji, and the second-born in a family of eight children, he undertook his primary and early secondary schooling at the Morawa State School. In 1953, the Anglican Schools Board awarded Lewis a scholarship, to attend Christ Church Grammar School in Perth as a boarder, commencing in the second year of secondary school. Lewis was dux of the Junior School, and obtained a Junior Certificate, in 1954.
He was awarded a Leaving Certificate two years later.
In his final year at Christ Church in 1956, he was a school prefect, and the captain of both the First XI cricket team and First XVIII Australian rules football team After a minor academic setback, he also satisfied the requirements for matriculation.
In March 1957, with the assistance of a Commonwealth Scholarship, and another scholarship from the National Union of Australian University Students, Lewis became the first Aboriginal student to attend the University of Western Australia (University of Western Australia). At University of Western Australia, Lewis enrolled in the Faculty of Arts, and was a prominent cricketer and football player.
However, he left University of Western Australia in 1958 to take up a position in the public service.
In the early 1960s, Lewis played in the West Australian Football League, for the Claremont Football Club. His teammates in that team included Ian Brayshaw (father of James Brayshaw) and John McIntosh (father of Ashley McIntosh). Between the late 1950s and late 1980s, Lewis became one of Australia"s leading indigenous public servants.
After working in a variety of areas in Indigenous welfare and development, Lewis retired from the public service in 1989.
At about the time of his retirement, Lewis commenced a new career as an artist, working as a painter and with ceramics. He has been a multiple finalist in the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, and a finalist in numerous other contemporary art awards.
Membership
Best known as the father of Australian rules football player Chris Lewis, a member of the West Coast Eagles" American Federation of Labor-Congress premiership-winning teams in 1992 and 1994, he has been described as "something of a celebrity in Perth". He was a member of Claremont"s premiership-winning team in 1964. The best known of the sons, Chris, was also a member of the West Coast Eagles" American Federation of Labor-Congress premiership-winning teams in 1992 and 1994, and, like his father, played in a Claremont premiership-winning team, in 1996.
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Born
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Nationality
Australia -
Political Party
National Union