JOHN BRADLEY HIRST Historian, author, commentator Born:  July 9, 1942, Adelaide Died:  February 5, 2016, Melbourne PROFESSOR John Hirst was an eminent -Australian historian and author, who had a long and distinguished -academic -career.
Described as a public intellectual and active citizen, the emeritus scholar at Melbourne's La Trobe University's history department was the author of several books and -essays on a broad range of divisive and complex topics, from convicts, the birth of -Australian egalitarianism to European history and the -republic.
The Sentimental Nation: The Making of the Australian Commonwealth (2001) was seen as groundbreaking work in which he argued that it was -national sentiment that united a -nation and was much more important than economics. 
He also wrote Discovering Democracy, a guide to understanding Australian government that was distributed to schools across the country.
Tributes flowed on news of his death. "He was extraordinarily independent, had a penetrating intellect, and was courageous and very generous," La Trobe professor Robert Manne said.
"We disagreed frequently, but -enjoyed conversation and enjoyed the differences of opinion. We -enjoyed trying to work them through." Katie Holmes, professor of history at La Trobe, said Dr Hirst played an instrumental role in shaping the university's early history department.
"John will be remembered for his ongoing intellectual curiosity, the quality of his thought, his generosity as a supervisor and mentor to younger scholars and his commitment to helping them get their work published," Professor Holmes said. "He was controversial and provocative but he had a generous and open mind and was -always willing to engage respectfully and rigorously about ideas â€¦ He also had a great sense of humour." During his decades at the peak of academic achievement, Hirst -attracted the admiration of many of the country's politicians and intellectuals. "Australia has lost a fine mind, clear thinker and good bloke," -former prime minister Tony Abbott said.
"His research, writing and thinking gave him a good appreciation of our country's strengths and a determination to build on them." Hirst's last book, a history of the Australian Catholic University's first 25 years, was published last year.
"John Hirst was one of the greatest historians this country has had," ACU vice-chancellor Greg Craven said.
"He wrote with great beauty about the history of Australia. He was meant to be conservative but he was purely intellectual." His 2009 book, The Shortest History of Europe, has been translated into several languages and sold more than 100,000 copies in China alone.
A founding convener of the Australian Republican Movement in Victoria, Hirst was a member of Paul Keating's Republic Advisory Committee in the early 1990s.
Hirst was born in South Australia and completed his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Adelaide.
In 1968, he was appointed to the staff of the history department at La Trobe University in Melbourne and became head of the department and reader in history.
After he retired in 2006, Professor Hirst maintained a strong presence as emeritus scholar, contributing many opinion pieces to media and -authoring several books. He was also co-editor of the -Oxford Companion to Australian -History.
Hirst was a member of the Film Australia Board and a council member of the National Museum of -Australia. He also developed the first course on Aboriginal history to be taught in any Australian university.In 1986 he was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.