Eugenie Peter Contesse - Letters from Lifou, 1923-1951

PMB 1011

fonds

Canberra : Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, [19--]

441083

Microfilm : PMB 1011

microform reel 35 mm

Born in Switzerland in 1889 and died there in 1974 after having spent most of the years 1923-1951 in New Caledonia. As a missionary teacher for the Societe des Missions Evangeliques (Paris) she was based chiefly at Bethanie in Lifou but made duty visits to the other Loyalty Islands (Mare, Ouvea and Tiga) and to Noumea, Do Neva (Houailou) and elsewhere on the Grande Terre often to attend the annual Protestant conferences. She was based in Do Neva for several months in 1939

Eugenie Peter's letters begin in Marseille on 16 May 1923 and end in Noumea in 28 August 1951, with two interruptions, in 1929/30 and 1937/38, for visits to Europe. Her letters are usually in fact 'letter-diaries'. They provide therefore a detailed record of life on the Loyalty Islands during the depression, World War II and immediate post-war years. The contain detailed accounts of relations with the Boula and Haeweng families on Lifou. Eugenie Peter and her colleagues (Marguerite Anker, Pierre Begninus, Etienne Bergeret, Marc Lacheret, Philippe Rey-Lescure and many others)

PMB (Australian National University. Pacific Manuscripts Bureau) ; 1011
Available for reference
Microfilm copy of original held in private ownership