Geelong Lawyers' Collection: Msiroslav SchimanaBiography of Miroslav Schimana by Vivian Hill Australian soils are deficient in phosphate and its agriculture, particularly in cereal production has been dependent on imported phosphatic rock or guano from Nauru or Ocean Island in the Western Pacific. Geelong on Corio Bay is a principal port for this import. From the ship the rock is conveyed by trucks to phosphate works where it is crushed, subject to severe heat (40 degrees Celsius) and with the addition of sulphur is converted into fertiliser known as super-phosphate. It is then bagged and available for sale. In 1949 workers at the phosphate works were required to rake out large heaps of the hot molten rock so as to allow it to cool without solidifying into large lumps. This was heavy work, aggravated by unpleasant fumes and intense heat. The use of mechanical forklifts had not been fully developed and there was a great deal of lifting of heavy bags of fertilisers by the workers. How then was it that Miroslav Schimana, who had studied to become a Doctor of Canon and Civil Law at the oldest University in Central Europe, was engaged in this unpleasant and health affecting labour? Miroslav Schimana had come to Australia as an assisted migrant arriving in Melbourne on the 30th July 1949. He was one of the 150,000 people arriving that year from Europe under the scheme Prime Minister John Curtin had proposed in 1944. He put forward that scheme during the darkest days of the Second World War being acutely concerned of the need for Australia to build up its population from the small figure of 7,500,000. He saw a bigger population as a necessity for Australia’s defence in any future war. Under the Chifley Government (1945-1949) when Mr. A. A. Calwell was Immigration Minister Curtin’s scheme became a reality. Continued by successive Governments, by 1963 1, 500, 000 new inhabitants had arrived in Australia from Europe. An assisted passage was subject to conditions. One was that a person entering the scheme had to accept employment for 2 years at a place decided by the Immigration Department. In 1949, with an economy substantially based on physical labour, a lack of training in the English language available for new arrivals, and a general insensitivity to the value of qualifications obtained outside Australia it was inevitable that some migrants were obliged to take work in inappropriate employment. Such was the position of Miroslav Schimana at the North Shore Geelong phosphate works. Miroslav Schimana was born in Prague the capital of Czechoslovakia on the 7th of January 1924. His father was the Chief Administrator of a district in Sudetenland, a German speaking part of Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia had been formed after the First World War following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its creation was one of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and imposed on Germany and its allies by U.S.A., France and Britain. The new State was brought about by the joining together of Bohemia, Moravia, part of Silesia (the historical lands of the former Czech Kingdom), plus Slovakia (formerly part of the Kingdom of Hungary), and Ruthenia (Transcarpathia, then part of Hungary and ceded to the Soviet Union in 1945). One third of the population of Bohemia and Moravia were German speaking. Those German speakers were not new arrivals but descended from German settlers invited by Czech rulers a thousand years previously and shared a common history with Czechs during that period. Under the first President Thomas Masaryk, a former philosophy professor, the new country had established a strong education system. For 6 years from 1929 Miro Schimana attended various primary schools in Sudetenland. He and his parents were then living in this region of Bohemia, near the German frontier. After primary school he attended a secondary school for eight years. Following the ancient Greek use of the word for a place of academic training the type of school Miroslav Schimana attended was known as a gymnasium. Based on earlier monastic models its purpose was to train students for University studies. There were other secondary schools to prepare students for technical universities. Miroslav was taught in schools where the German language was used. The majority of schools were taught in Czech or Slovak, a substantial number in German, and smaller numbers in Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish. At the Gymnasium, apart from other studies, Miroslav studied French and Latin during his 8-year training. He already spoke Czech and German. When Miroslav Schimana was 14 political political events had a profound effect on the citizens of Czechoslovakia. A Fascist government under Hitler had risen to power in Germany. On the 12th of March 1938 German troops invaded Austria. Six months later German troops massed on the Czechoslovakian border near Sudetenland. At the conference at Munich on the 12th of September, 1938 France and England succumbed to the demands of Hitler and advised President Benes to surrender Sudetenland to German control. There had been a general mobilisation with the German threat and at the age of 14 Miroslav Schimana was called up into the Czech army. Without help from the countries which had encouraged and permitted this new democratic society to arise from the disasters of the first world war Czechoslovakia could not resist Hitler’s demands. Sudetenland came under the control of Germany. The Schimana family then left for Prague. Dr. Schimana lived in an apartment in that city. Miroslav’s mother lived in the country and he remained at the residential college. In March 1939 contrary to the agreement made at Munich German troops invaded Czechoslovakia and the country came under the control of Germany. It remained so during the Second World War. There were repressive measures against resisters real or potential with many executions and deportations in Bohemia and Moravia. Thousands of Jews were rounded up and sent to extermination camps. Universities were closed and German authorities took control of factories. In 1942 Miro was conscripted by the German authorities to work in a Junkers factory. In that year his mother died. Because of his education and his skills in the German language he was employed in the personnel office of the aircraft factory. At the age of twenty he was in charge of that office with 10 employees under his supervision. By May 1945 the war in Europe was coming to an end. The decisions of the British, U.S.A. and Soviet leaders at Yalta in February 1945 meant that although the American Army had swept through Germany and was in occupation of Western Bohemia and within 50 miles of Prague it was prohibited from entering the capital. The “liberation” of Prague was carried out by Soviet soldiers sent for that purpose from East Germany. The effect of the Yalta agreements and later by the agreements between the allied powers at Potsdam in July 1945 meant that Czechoslovakia remained under Russian domination. In 1945 Miroslav Schimana suffered a further personal loss when his father died from typhoid fever. As an officer in the Czech Repatriation Department he was interviewing former prisoners of war. German prison authorities had released typhoid-infected fleas in prison camps. T he aim was to bring about the deaths of captured troops. Dr. Schimana was infected by a flea coming from the ex-prisoner of war and died a few days later. During wartime there had been a Czech Government in exile in London. That Government took control of Czechoslovakia after the war. The Universities had re-opened with the return of the new Government. Miro’s stepmother wanted to carry out his father's wish that he would have a university education. By chance he met a former school friend who told him he was going to study law. He walked with him to a bookshop. He was told he should buy law books as the reopening of the universities would lead to a shortage of all textbooks. He followed the advice and fell into the study of law at the Charles University in Prague. This University was founded by Emperor Charles IV in 1348 and had a long history of scholarship. Normally, in order to practice law in Czechoslovakia a student had to study five years at University followed by five years apprenticeship or Articles with an established lawyer. Immediately post war there was a shortening of the period of study. Although Miro Schimana says although he was not an outstanding pupil at school he did obtain a small government scholarship which enabled him to study full time. He proceeded to train his memory by learning part of the study by rote. In the European tradition examinations were oral, not written, and this form of study may have helped. By application and this learning method he passed all examinations in four years receiving the mark of excellent in all but one case. Post-war Czechoslovakia was subject to Soviet influence. Communist politicians began to assume control in the Government. There was a take over of Government under the direction of the Soviet Ambassador Zorin in 1948. Soviet troops appeared near the border. Jan Masaryk the Foreign Minister and son of the first President of Czechoslovakia, was assassinated. Nationalism of resources and industries began. It became illegal to leave Czechoslovakia. Before long political trials would take place. Miroslav Schimana decided to leave his country. He met someone who told him of another person who knew the best way of escaping and to find a way out of the country. He decided to go with that person. In fact the “expert” had little knowledge. They left on the 13th of May 1948. With an understanding of traveling by the stars he learnt as a Boy Scout Miroslav and his companions were able to find their way to the German border. He remembers creeping past someone with a machine gun near the border. It was early days in the communist takeover and the borders were not fully closed. He brought little with him except a satchel with some items he was pretending to sell. He has kept his satchel as a memento of that dangerous journey. Eventually they found their way to Germany. The country was absolutely devastated. Many displaced persons were housed in what had been Concentration Camps. Miroslav Schimana and his companions were classified by the Red Cross as refugees and looked after by that organization. They were told Italy was prepared to take 1000 Czechs for embarkation to overseas countries. He and the others accepted that offer and ended up at Naples in a camp which had previously had been an Italian Fascist Youth Corps Camp. It was full of persons displaced by the War. Some were likely to go to Australia. He and his fellow Czechs assumed responsibilities in the administration of the camp. Migration to the U.S.A. was a possibility as one of his friends had an aunt living there. She had agreed to sponsor both of them. At this time in 1949 there appeared to be a risk of further European War. The “Cold War” between U.S.A. and the Soviets had begun. Although Berlin was jointly occupied by the Western allies and Russian forces the Russians blocked entry to it and a crisis developed between those Powers. Australian Immigration officials visited the camp seeking immigrants. This was a quick opportunity to leave Europe. Miroslav Schimana was then President of the Exiled Czech Student Society. The Australian offer was accepted by him and others in the society. They boarded the Norwegian ship “M/S Skaugum”. It sailed from Naples to Melbourne arriving there on the 30th of July 1949. At the Naples camp Miro had been employed as Registration and Billeting Officer from January 1949 to March 1949 and thereafter as Chief Cashier in the Welfare Canteen. On the M/S Skaugum he was Administrative Assistant to Chief Steward. On ship, the mode of payment was by cigarettes, not money. As part of the Australian Immigration Scheme accommodation was provided at Bonegilla near Albury N.S.W. A number of student and professional Czech immigrants were assigned to a farmer to cut down eucalypt trees. They were not experienced in such heavy work so they all decided to turn up in their best black suits. The ruse works. The farmer took one look at them and decided they were not suitable people to employ. They were then offered work at the phosphate works at Geelong. One of the group had met the daughter of a Dr. Hyett of Geelong. They decided to accept the positions. Miro Schimana worked as a labourer at Pivot Phosphate works at North Shore Geelong for two years. In 1967 he suffered a coronary occlusion which he attributes to the strain on his heart muscles while engaged in that heavy labour. Although he had a few lessons he said he learnt to speak English “in the gutters of Geelong”, picking up where he could. In 1951 after completing his two-year contract Miroslav Schimana had acquired enough English to obtain a position in the personnel section of International Harvester Company Geelong. It then employed about 2500 staff. One of his tasks was to check the actual staff engaged against those on the books of the company. There was a significant discrepancy. After about 18 months there was a down turn in the economy and some 600 employees of I.H.C. were likely to be dismissed. As a single man he could see that he would be at risk. He left the company and commenced as a Life Insurance Agent. He did not find this an attractive form of employment and decided to seek an independent career. He visited the Faculty of Law at Melbourne University to find out the possibility of studying law in his new country. The Sub-Dean gave him the dispiriting advice that it would be too difficult for him to attempt and persuaded him not to enroll. A Hungarian migrant in Geelong, Lazar Romanic, told him he intended to study law and gave him some books on English Law to read. Two years after his first interview he again saw the Sub-Dean of the Melbourne University of Law Faculty. He told the Sub-Dean he did not want him to tell him whether or not he should study law but how he could do so. He did not have the financial means to attend University as a full-time student and he was told he could study by correspondence or seek to obtain Articles with an established solicitor. Miro Schimana enrolled at the Melbourne University Law Faculty. He received no credit for his legal studies in Czechoslovakia but was admitted as having an equal qualification as a person who had passed Melbourne University matriculation (or entrance) examination. While still being an Insurance agent and studying by correspondence he passed the subject of Law of Contract. He was not aware that he could compete for honors in the Law examinations. In the following year, while still studying by correspondence and supporting himself as an Insurance Agent, he passed the subject Criminal Law and was awarded the J.R. Maguire Exhibition in the subject of Torts (Civil Wrongs). To achieve this result he had to perform better than any other student, including fulltime students. Professor Norval Morris of the Law Faculty encouraged him in his studies. He obtained Articles of Clerkship with the Melbourne legal firm Abbot Stillman and Wilson. At that time most article clerks were receiving two or three pounds per week but his employer agreed to pay him ten pounds per week. He continued to do well in his studies while also carrying out his office duties as an Articled Clerk. He was awarded the Exhibition in two other subjects and Honors in three more. At the conclusion of his law course he was awarded Supreme Court Prize for Articled Clerks. This is a prize awarded to the best final year student studying the law course as an articled clerk. These achievements were added to later by studying for an honors result the subject of Jurisprudence, a subject not required for those becoming qualified as articled clerks. Miro Schimana’s success in University studies were remarkable. Although he had the advantage of maturity and earlier studies at a university over some other law students, he was at a considerable disadvantage. He was researching and writing in a language which was not his native language and in which he had received almost no formal training. The Czech law he had previously studied was based on a Code instituted when Czechoslovakia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The aim of the Code was to set out a coherent system of Norms in precise plain language. The English system of Common Law, the basis of Victorian Law, depends on judicial decisions in particular cases, a hierarchy of courts, and the doctrine of precedent, where the decision of one tribunal can bind another. It leads to intricate reasoning, fine distinctions and is always subject to change. Decisions in other Common Law courts, particularly those in the United Kingdom, influence results. Access to a good law library and much reading of decided cases in a variety of jurisdictions is required to obtain a proper knowledge. Most students Miro Schimana was competing for honours against attended University without the obligation to support themselves, with ample time for research and the opportunities of discussion with tutors and other students. These results were sufficient to open the door to a career as a law academic. There would have been a considerable advantage for future law students to have as a teacher a person who had a knowledge of a legal system other than the one brought by the original settlers from the British Isles. He would have been able to give a wider perspective than lecturers trained in the common law system alone. Miro Schimana has been able to do some teaching but his primary career as a lawyer was to practice as a solicitor in Geelong. In 1955 he had taken out Australian citizenship. He was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria on the 1st of March 1961 and commenced employment with Price Higgins and Fidge solicitors of Yarra Street Geelong the next day. This opportunity came as a result of a chance meeting with one of the firm’s partners, R.H. Fidge. Apart from serving articles and studying, he worked Saturdays as the accountant/bookkeeper for a chemist in East Geelong. Roy Fidge was a customer. He enquired from Miro Schimana what he was doing and on being advised he hoped to be admitted to legal practice, he received an immediate invitation to join the firm. By 1962 he was a partner in the firm. Price Higgins and Fidge was one of the oldest firms in Geelong with a solid clientele and a reputation for reliability and legal skills. At that time the partners were Geoffrey Higgins, Russell Higgins and R.H. (later Sir Roy) Fidge. Miro Schimana took charge of the common law work of the firm conducting litigation in all jurisdictions in a wide variety of legal cases. He appeared as Counsel in Magistrates Court, County Court and Supreme Court particularly in the realms of criminal law appeals and pleas and matrimonial jurisdiction. As Price Higgins and Fidge acted for the Shire of Corio he also appeared as Prosecutor on behalf of the Municipality for breaches of Local Government Law. Following the coronary occlusion in 1967 his medical advice was to take less strenuous legal work. He reduced his activities in the common law fields but then widened his legal skills in a broader area of legal practice. While he was a partner Price Higgins and Fidge was a successful legal firm employing long-standing and competent staff. It had an excellent reputation. Apart from conducting a busy legal practice for 18 years Mr. Schimana lectured on the law of contracts and professional practice in the School of Architecture at the Gordon Institute at Geelong and later at Deakin University. Many architects now in practice benefited from his teaching. Miro’s cheerful disposition, ready co-operation and personal integrity soon won him many friends among the legal profession. He enjoyed the company of his fellow practitioners in the course of his professional life as well as on social occasions of the Geelong Law Association. In 1971-72 he was the Association’s President. At the same time he had many friends in Geelong from other interests such as Rotary. He was President 1981-82. He was also the director of the Grace McKellar Centre and enjoyed sport, particularly golf. Miroslav Schimana married Denise, a trained nurse in 1962. On that day their combined capital was six pence cash and an overdraft of two hundred pounds. They have a family of three children. Miroslav Schimana continued as a partner at Price Higgins and Fidge until 1986 and thereafter as a Consultant to the firm until 1990. Apart from his lecturing at the School of Architecture, when the Law School was established at Deakin University in 1992, he assisted there as a lecturer for several months. In 1979 Miroslav Schimana was in Europe for a holiday but was not able to enter Czechoslovakia as it was still under Communist rule. At the time of his escape in 1948 his stepmother and 2-year-old brother remained there. The Communist regime fell in November 1989 during the “Velvet” Revolution. Vacla
Havel, a writer, was elected President. In 1990 Miroslav Schimana was able to return to Prague and to meet again his brother by then a middle-aged man. An immediate friendship developed. The visit in 1990 was followed by visits in 1991, 1992, and 1995. These visits enabled the renewal of friendships with former friends particularly schoolmates and fellow university students.
The most memorable occasion must surely have been when in 1991 he attended a graduation ceremony at the Charles University at Prague and received the Doctor's Degree from the Law Faculty when his studies of almost fifty years previously were officially recognized in that ancient and distinguished university. References
Copyright Vivian Hill 2055 Portarlington Road Drysdale 1996
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