LAUSR

Abstract Leonhard Adam (1891–1960) was among the most distinguished internees despatched from England to Australia in 1940 on the infamous HMT Dunera. Penguin Books had lately published his Primitive Art, which was on the way to becoming a standard work. In 1942 he was released in order to study Aboriginal stone artefacts under the supervision of the University of Melbourne’s Professor R.M. Crawford, who secured resources for the making and sustenance of a small ethnological museum attached to the university’s history department. By canny exchange, Adam built a precious collection. He gave sparsely attended lectures, and with some cause believed that Australian colleagues did not greatly value his work. It has been receiving more attention and respect in recent years.