Mollie Lukis

Who was Mollie Lukis?

Merolla Frances Fellowes Lukis was a prominent Western Australian archivist and promoter of women's rights.

Lukis was born in Donnybrook, Western Australia in 1912 and attended St Mary's Church of England School in Perth and the University of Western Australia from where she graduated with Honours in 1932. She gained a Diploma of Teaching the following year and worked as a teacher in Perth, Victoria and England from 1932 to 1940. During the Second World War she worked at the Munitions Supply Laboratories in Victoria.

In 1945, state librarian James Battye chose her to lead the state's archive branch, working in the Western Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Lukis retired as the head of the Battye Library in 1971. She was awarded an Order of the British Empire in 1976 and an Order of Australia for her archival work.

In 2006, The West Australian listed her as one of WA's 100 most influential people.