This document provides brief biographies of notable New Zealanders from various fields including arts, sports, exploration and science. It describes their accomplishments and contributions to New Zealand culture and history. Some of the individuals profiled are Peter Jackson, Neil Finn, John Britten, Richard Pearse, Ernest Rutherford, Kate Shepard, Edmund Hillary, Witi Ihimaera, Charles Upham, Janet Frame and Arthur Lydiard.

1. KIWI
ICONS

2. PETER JACKSON
• Born 31 October 1961.
• Gained international recognition
after making 3 films based on
JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings
books.
• Was made a Companion of The
New Zealand Order of Merit
(CNZM) for his services to the film
industry in the 2002.

4. NEIL FINN
• Born 27 May 1958 in Te
Awamutu.
• Joined Split Enz in 1976.
• Gained international recognition in
1982 when the Crowded House
song ‘Don’t dream its over’
reached No 2 in the USA.
• Was awarded on OBE for services
to music in 1993

6. JOHN BRITTEN
• Born 1 August 1950.
• Trained in mechanical engineering,
and worked as a design engineer.
• Began designing motorcycles and
developed the Britten V1000 using his
own design and construction
techniques to make a faster, lighter
"superbike".
• Died on 5 September 1995.

8. RICHARD PEARSE
• Born: 3 December, 1877
• He was the first person to take off
in a plane. This was thought to be
on March 31st 1903, 9 months
before the Wright brothers.
Because he never documented his
work the Wright brothers are
credited with flying first.
• Died: 29 July, 1953

10. ERNEST RUTHERFORD
• Born: 30 August,
1871
• His interest lay in
studying
radioactivity.
• Eventually he
discovered it was
possible to split the
atom.
• Died: 19 October
1937

11. NURSE MAUDE
• Born: 11 August 1862 at Hagley
Lodge, Christchurch
• She went out into the district to
care for the elderly and sick in their
homes. This was the beginning of
the district nursing scheme in New
Zealand.
• Died: 12 July 1935 in Christchurch

13. KATE SHEPPARD
• Born:March 10 1847
• Kate believed women should take
part in society and politics, rather
than stay in the home and she
believed that woman could not
make any of the changes needed
in society without first winning the
right to vote.
• Died: 13July 1934

15. KIRI TE KANAWA
• Born 6 March 1944 in Gisborne.
• Studied under Sister Mary Leo 1959-65
at St Mary's College in Auckland.
• won the Mobil song contest in 1965.
• In 1981 sang at the wedding of Prince
Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in St
Paul's Cathedral.
• Became Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in 1982.
• Sang in her last opera Vanessa in
2002, but plans to continue with recital
and concert work.

17. RITA ANGUS
• Born 12 March 1908, in Hastings
• Studied painting at the Canterbury School of
Art, Christchurch, and at the Elam School of
Fine Arts, Auckland.
• Helped establish a distinctly New Zealand
style of painting and landscape in the 1930s
and 40s, along with Toss Woollaston and
Colin McCahon, by using clear, sharply-
defined lines and colours, but developed her
own distinctive and personal style.
• She died on 25 January 1970.

18. Portrait of Betty Curnow by Rita Angus, 1942

19. Self Portrait by Rita Angus 1966

20. EDMUND HILLARY
• BornJuly 20, 1919 – January 11, 2008)
• On 29 May 1953 at the age of 33, he
and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzin Norgay
became the first climbers known to have
reached the summit of Mount Everest.
• He also participated in a voyage to the
South Pole in 1958.
• Following his ascent of Everest he
devoted much of his life to helping the
Sherpa people of Nepal through the
Himalayan Trust, which he founded.

21. Sir Ed
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing
Norgay – the first men to reach
the summit of Mt Everest

22. WITI IHIMAERA
• Born 7 February 1944 in
Gisborne.
• Is well known for writing
books such as Tangi,
Pounamu, Pounamu, and
The Whale Rider.
• He was made a
Distinguished Companion
in the New Zealand Order
of Merit in 2005 for
services to literature.

23. TEX MORTON
• Robert William Lane was born in
Nelson, on August 30th 1916.
• He was the top selling recording
artist in Australasia in the 1930's,
outselling Bing Crosby, Gracie
Fields and the young Frank Sinatra;
and by the 1950s was one of the
highest paid touring entertainers in
North America.

25. JEAN BATTEN
• Born in Rotorua, in 1909.
• In 1936 she made the first ever
direct flight between England and
New Zealand and then the fastest
ever trans-Tasman flight.
• She stood for adventure, daring,
exploration and glamour. In her
time Jean Batten was one of the
most famous people in the world.

27. CHARLES UPHAM
• Born in Christchurch, in 1908.
• Captain Charles Upham remains the
only combatant soldier to have received
the Victoria Cross and Bar (awarded to
members of the armed forces of the
Commonwealth for exceptional bravery).
• In Crete in May 1941, and the Western
Desert in July 1942, Upham
distinguished himself with displays of
‘nerveless competence’.

29. PETER BUCK
• Born around 1877.
• Sir Peter Buck’s
achievements include: a
pioneering and
internationally renowned
anthropologist, the first
Maori medical doctor, a
politician, administrator,
soldier, sportsperson
and leader of the Maori
people.

30. ELIZABETH McCOMBS
• Born in Kaiapoi
on 19 November
1873.
• Elected New
Zealand's first
female member
of Parliament
when she won
the Lyttelton seat
in 1933.

31. DAVID LOW
• Born in Dunedin, in
1891.
• Low drew cartoons
attacking both Hitler
and Mussolini in the led
up and throughout
WWII. His work was
banned in both these
countries.

32. A David Low cartoon from 1938 – Who is the figure
in the Santa suit?

33. JANET FRAME
• Born in Dunedin on August 28,
1924.
• After dropping out of teachers
college in Dunedin she went
overseas.
• She won international acclaim
for a number of her books
including her biography ‘An
angel at my table’.

34. NANCY WAKE
• Born in Wellington on 30 August
1912.
• She was the Allies' most decorated
servicewoman of WWII, and the
Gestapo’s most-wanted person.
• She became a saboteur, organiser
and Resistance fighter who led an
army of 7,000 Maquis troops in
guerrilla warfare to sabotage the
Nazis.

35. Nancy Wake was also known as ‘The
White Mouse’ because of her ability to
elude capture

36. ARTHUR LYDIARD
• Arthur Lydiard was born
in 1917 in Auckland.
• He invented jogging. The
method of building up
physical fitness by
gradually increasing
stamina is a simple one,
used by millions of men
and women worldwide as
part of their everyday
health and fitness
regime.

37. PETER BLAKE
• Born October 1, 1948.
• He was a yachtsman who led his
country to two successive America’s
Cup victories. He previously won the
Whitbread Round the World Race in
1989, and the Jules Verne Trophy in
1994 by setting the fastest time around
the world of 74 days 22 hours 17
minutes 22 seconds on catamaran
Enza.