Thea Schmitz
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Thea Schmitz, born Maria Theresa Schmitz, (28 June 1927 – 22 September 1990) was a librarian who was the first librarian at Library & Archives NT in Darwin and opened the State Reference Library after building the collection. She was a strong advocate for professional library services.[1][2]
Schmitz was born in Cologne, Germany, and was the younger of two children to Franz Joseph Karl and Paula Louisa Schmitz. Schmitz's father, a lawyer, died while she was still attending school.[1]
Schmitz's teenage years coincided with World War II and she remained with her family and completed her schooling and went on to attend the University of Cologne where, in 1953, she received her Doctorate of Philosophy.[1]
In 1956 Schmitz immigrated to Australia where she first worked as a cook in 'Outback' Queensland and, soon after, she begun studying for the Library Association of Australia's registration examination, to become a librarian. This study was via correspondence.[1]
After completing this she held a number of roles including establishing and running the Administrative College Library in Papua New Guinea (1961-1966), being the chief librarian at the South Pacific Commission in Nouméa (1966-1970) before returning to Australia to be the foundation librarian at the Riverina College of Advanced Education in Wagga Wagga (1970-1971).[1]