Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T07:22:00.262Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Brief Biography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2015

Charles Coppel
Affiliation:
None
Get access

Summary

Charles Antony Coppel was born in Melbourne on 6 July 1937, the son of Elias Godfrey “Bill” Coppel (1896–1978) and Marjorie Jean Service (1900–70), both of whom had strong links with the University of Melbourne, recognized by their inclusion in the university's 150 Years: 150 People sesquicentenary publication.

Charles was educated at Caulfield Grammar and Geelong Grammar. In 1955 he became the first (and, perhaps, the only!) male student to study at Merton Hall (Melbourne Girls Grammar), attending French classes with other students, as well as additional classes with a private tutor in the Botanical Gardens.

After matriculating in 1954 in classical European languages, pure and applied mathematics, and English expression and literature, he matriculated again at the end of the following year, this time in modern European languages (French and Italian) and British History. During this second year Charles travelled to Europe, where he studied at the University of Grenoble and the University for Foreigners in Perugia, and travelled more widely in France, Italy, England, and Wales. On his way to and from Europe in 1955, he stopped over very briefly in Jakarta, his first contact with Indonesia.

In 1956 Charles commenced studies at the University of Melbourne for his undergraduate degree in Law. As one of his first year non-law subjects, he chose Economic Geography where he made his first Indonesian friend, Zainu'ddin, later an academic colleague.

In 1960 Charles graduated with his Honours LLB degree, in the company of future Supreme Court judges, Stephen Charles and John Batt. Soon after, he commenced articles with Phillips Fox and Masel, a prominent Melbourne firm of solicitors. In 1961 Charles was called to the Victorian Bar and became one of the first tenants of the new building for barristers, Owen Dixon Chambers. As counsel, Charles appeared in a range of courts, from Petty Sessions (now the Magistrates Court) to the High Court, twice led by his father.

During his student years, Charles was called up for compulsory National Service training. While he was still a member of the Citizens Military Force, an appeal was made for volunteers to study the Indonesian language. Charles volunteered, thinking that this would be more useful than shouldering a rifle, but abandoned this idea when compulsory National Service was abolished.

Type
Chapter
Information
Chinese Indonesians
Remembering, Distorting, Forgetting
, pp. x - xii
Publisher: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
Print publication year: 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×