Fanny Cochrane Smith

Common card · No. 497266

Fanny Cochrane Smith (née Cochrane; December 1834 – 24 February 1905) was an Aboriginal Tasmanian (Palawa) woman considered to be the last fluent speaker of an Aboriginal Tasmanian language. Born at the Wybalenna Aboriginal Establishment in 1834, she married in 1854 and spent much of her life in Port Cygnet. She attracted fame due to claims that she was the last surviving "full-blooded" Aboriginal Tasmanian, and was subjected to studies and public debate over her Aboriginal identity. She also became known for her public performances of Aboriginal songs. In 1899 and 1903 Smith recorded songs on wax cylinders, producing the only known recordings by a fluent speaker of an Aboriginal Tasmanian language. These recordings are held by the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and were added to the Australian Memory of the World Register in 2017. Many members of Tasmania's present-day Aboriginal community are descended from Smith.

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