Barbara Curthoys

Barbara Lindsay Curthoys, née McCallum (21 June 1924 – 28 September 2000) was an Australian feminist and communist activist.

She was born in Grafton to John McCallum, later a Liberal senator, and Eda, née Lockwood. In 1932, following her parents' divorce, she moved to Sydney, attending Canterbury Primary School and Fort Street Girls' High School. She joined the Communist Party of Australia after leaving school, and in World War II served in the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force as a wireless telegraphist. In 1944 she married Geoff Curthoys, with whom she had two daughters, Ann and Jean. The family moved to Broken Hill in 1946.

In 1953 Curthoys and her family moved to Newcastle, where she became a full-time organiser for the Communist Party. She joined the local branch of the Union of Australian Women in 1954, becoming secretary from 1954 to 1960 and serving on the national body in 1960, 1963 and 1970. She was also secretary of the Newcastle Trades Hall Council Equal Pay and Aboriginal Advancement committees during the 1960s and helped found the Newcastle Peace Forum. She was one of nine NSW Communist Party of Australia candidates for the 1963 Federal Election, standing for the seat of Shortland.

Having returned to academia she graduated with honours in Psychology in 1973, working at Stockton Hospital until 1982. In 1990 she was the first Australian invited to use the recently opened Comintern archives, and in 1991 she received the Peggy Hill Peace Award for service to world peace. She retired to Manly in 1993 and died in 2000.