The Australian Women's Register

Summary

Ursula Hoff, a distinguished art historian and critic, was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1970 for her work as assistant director of the National Gallery of Victoria. Educated in Hamburg where she gained a PhD, Munich and London, she arrived in Melbourne in 1939 to take up a position as secretary to the Women’s College at the University of Melbourne. During her long career she lectured in Fine Arts at the University of Melbourne and worked at the National Gallery of Victoria, becoming its assistant director from 1968-1973. She became the London Advisor to the Felton Bequest from 1975-1983 and has been senior associate, fine arts at the University of Melbourne since 1985. Other appointments included foundation fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1970 and member of the Council of the National Library of Australia. She published many books, a selection of which are listed in the Published Sources section.