Marie Bashir - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Marie Roslyn Bashir was born in 1930 in Narrandera, New South Wales, to Lebanese-born parents Michael Bashir and Victoria Melick. Her father and her paternal uncle were both medical graduates from the American University of Beirut while her maternal family had come to Australia in the 19th century.

Bashir attended Narrandera Public School and enrolled in 1943 in Sydney Girls High School, where her mother had also attended. Bashir then moved to Sydney to live with her grandmother in order to attend. Upon graduating, Bashir studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, becoming a proficient violinist.

She completed the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in 1956 at the University of Sydney, residing at The Women's College from 1950 to 1955. In 1959, she was elected to the College Council, became Honorary Secretary in 1960 and was Chair from 1982 to 1990. She took up life membership of the College Union in 1969. While at university, she met rising rugby player, Nicholas Shehadie, whom she married on 23 February 1957, in St Philip's Church, Sydney by Felix Arnott, then the Warden of St Paul's College, University of Sydney. They had their first child, Michael, in 1959, followed by two daughters, Susan and Alexandra.