J.F. Archibald (left) with Henry Lawson

Jules François Archibald, known as J. F. Archibald, (14 January 1856 – 10 September 1919 Sydney), Australian journalist and publisher, was co-owner and editor of The Bulletin during the days of its greatest influence in Australian politics and literary life. He was also the founder of the Archibald Prize art award.

Archibald was born John Feltham Archibald in Kildare now known as Geelong West, Victoria, but changed his name to Jules François Archibald as a result of his great love of French culture - a typically idiosyncratic gesture.

After working as a journalist, public servant and miner in Victoria and Queensland, Archibald arrived in Sydney in 1878, where he formed a partnership with John Haynes and William McLeod, and on 31 January 1880 they launched The Bulletin as a weekly paper of political, business and literary news. William Henry Traill became a partner in 1882, and the following year Archibald left for two years in London. When he returned in 1886, the magazine was struggling, and Archibald bought out the other partners.

Under Archibald's sole control, and with A. G. Stephens as his literary editor, The Bulletin became Australia's leading outlet for poets, cartoonists, short-stories and comic writers. Archibald had no life outside the magazine and devoted his every waking hour to it. It was his decision to open The Bulletin 's pages to contributions from readers, and his brand of radical, republican, xenophobic politics that the magazine reflected for the 16 years he controlled its content.

In 1902 Archibald's health broke down and he resigned the editorship, though retaining overall control. Unable to rest, he launched a new monthly magazine, The Lone Hand. But soon after he had a complete collapse and spent several years in a mental hospital. Even from there he kept writing, and in 1907 published The Genesis of The Bulletin, an important source for the history of the magazine.

Archibald's health never really recovered, and in 1914 he sold his interest in The Bulletin. He died in Sydney on 10 September 1919 and is buried in Waverley Cemetery. In his will, he made the two bequests by which he is best remembered by the general public: funds for the Archibald Fountain in Sydney's Hyde Park, which he specified must be designed by a French sculptor, and the Archibald Prize for portraiture, now Australia's most prestigious art prize.

[edit] References

• Serle, Percival (1949). "Archibald, Jules". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogA.html#archibald1. 
• Sylvia Lawson, 'Archibald, Jules François (1856 - 1919)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3, MUP, 1969, pp 43-48.

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