Peter Austen (9 works by) (birth name: Rudolf Novak Augstein ) (a.k.a. Aly Asir el Din; Aly Azir-El-Din )
Born: Established: 1892 Brisbane ; Died: 1939 Cairo
Gender: Male
Heritage: Belgian

BiographyHistory

Austen, descended from Austrian grandparents, attended school in Brisbane and took up work as a clerk with the Customs Office and later was employed by he Queensland Public Library. During World War I he served with the Australian Army Medical Corps (1st Field Hospital) in Egypt, Gallipoli, Greece and Flanders.

Austen changed his birth name, Rudolf Novak Augstein, to 'Peter Austen' by deed poll in 1917. He returned to Egypt in 1920 and there changed his name again; this time to Aly Azie-l-Dinh. He also converted to Islam. Austen died in Cairo in 1939 without ever returning to Australia.

Source: Patrick Buckridge, 'Being Elsewhere: Aesthetics, Identities and Alienation in Peter Austen's Life and Poetry', JASAL 5 (2006)