The Australia Council for the Arts is saddened by the death of eminent Australian writer and academic Donald Horne.

Mr Horne was the Australia Council’s chairman from 1985-91.

‘Donald Horne was deeply committed to the Australia Council and its mission of serving all Australians through the arts,’ says Jennifer Bott, chief executive officer of the Australia Council.

‘Donald always advocated for a vigorous and independent intellectual and artistic life for our country, a life that embraced and celebrated local communities.

‘He was a champion for the development of Australian cultural policy and identity and, indeed, of Australian cultural rights.

‘The country is poorer for his passing.’

Born in 1921 in Muswellbrook NSW, Donald Horne wrote more than 20 books, including works of social analysis, political analysis, history, memoirs and satire, and contributed to national and international journals.

Mr Horne’s The Lucky Country, an evaluation of Australian society published in 1964, was voted one of three most influential Australian books of the twentieth century by The Sydney Morning Herald.

Mr Horne was emeritus professor of the University of New South Wales, where he taught for 15 years, and served as chancellor of the University of Canberra from 1992?95. He was editor of The Bulletin, The Observer, Quadrant and contributing editor to Newsweek International.