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Hans Christian Bjelke-Petersen (14 April 1872 – 23 May 1964) was a Danish-Australian proponent of physical culture.

Early life

Bjelke-Petersen was born in Copenhagen on 14 April 1872. He was the son of Caroline Vilhelmine (née Hansen) and Georg Peter Bjelke-Petersen; his father was a gardener and builder.

Bjelke-Petersen was initially home-schooled and later attended schools in Copenhagen and in Dresden, Germany. He trained as a schoolteacher, graduating from a training college in Copenhagen in 1890. After a period in London, he and his family immigrated to Australia in 1891, arriving in Tasmania aboard SS Doric. He subsequently worked as a schoolteacher, teaching gymnastics, foot drill, geography and science at The Friends' School, Hobart, and gymnastics and German at The Hutchins School. He was naturalised as a British subject in 1894.

Physical culture

In 1892, Bjelke-Petersen opened a physical education institute in Hobart. He was subsequently engaged by the state Education Department to train teachers in a physical culture scheme intended to replace the existing system of military-style drills in Tasmanian state schools. His scheme "stressed the importance of breathing exercises, deportment drills, physical culture games, and rest between exercises". Bjelke-Petersen was also interested in annthropometry.

Bjelke-Petersen moved to Sydney in 1906 and with his brother Harald established a physical training institute, the Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture. Their sister Marie ran the women's section in Hobart and helped popularise physical culture among women and girls, who would eventually become the main clientele. Another institute was opened in Melbourne in 1909 and their business grew substantially after World War I.

Military service

In 1911, Bjelke-Petersen was appointed by the Fisher government as director of a physical training scheme within the Department of Defence, despite objections that he was not a native-born citizen. He was given the honorary rank of lieutenant-colonel and continued the scheme until the outbreak of World War I in 1914, organising the training of instructors for cadets and schoolchildren within the Universal Training Scheme. Bjelke-Petersen resumed his involvement with the military in 1918 as an inspector of physical training. He was later an honorary consultant from 1920 to 1922.

Personal life

In 1933, Bjelke-Petersen married Dorothy Henri. They had no children, although his nephew Joh Bjelke-Petersen became premier of Queensland. He retired back to Tasmania where he was involved with the Pocket Testament League and Christian youth organisations. He died on 23 May 1964 in Eaglehawk Neck, aged 92.

References

1. ^ Cunneen, Chris; McLeod, E. A. (1979). "Hans Christian Bjelke-Petersen (1872–1964)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 7. Melbourne University Press.
2. "Marie Bjelke-Petersen". She's Game: Women Making Australian Sporting History. Australian Women's Archives Project. 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2024.