Colin Mackerras: key obituary facts
Is Colin Mackerras dead? Yes. Colin Mackerras died on October 8, 2026, at age 87.
Cause of death: Colin Mackerras's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Colin Mackerras known for?
He was an Australian sinologist.
More about Colin Mackerras
Born: 26 August 1939.
Place of birth: Sydney.
Gender: male.
Occupation: sinologist.
Nationality: Australia.
Education: Beijing Foreign Studies University, University of Cambridge, Australian National University.
Awards: Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Officer of the Order of Australia.
Also known as: Ma Kelin, Colin Patrick Mackerras.
Colin Patrick Mackerras, the Australian sinologist, died October 8, 2026, aged 87.
Born in Sydney on August 26, 1939, he became a specialist in Chinese culture whose work ranged across Chinese drama, China’s national minorities, Australian–Chinese relations and Western images of China. Known in Chinese as Ma Kelin, Mackerras pursued postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge and studied at the Australian National University and Beijing Foreign Studies University.
In 1964, he travelled to China with his wife, Alyce, and taught at Beijing’s Foreign Language Institute, now Beijing Foreign Studies University, until 1966. He later returned to China on several occasions, including in 1986 and during visits between 2005 and 2012. From 1966 to 1969, he was Chair Professor and Research Scholar at the Australian National University. He joined Griffith University’s School of Modern Asian Studies in 1974, serving as professor until 2004 and holding leadership roles there, including chair and head of the school. From 2004, he was Professor Emeritus at Griffith. His academic work and teaching connected the study of Chinese society and performance with questions of how China was understood in Australia and the West. Mackerras was a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and an Officer of the Order of Australia.