Bettina Gorton

Bettina Gorton
Gorton in 1970
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia
In office 10 January 1968 – 10 March 1971
Preceded by	Dame Zara Holt
Succeeded by	Sonia McMahon
Personal details
Born	Bettina Edith Brown (1915-06-23)23 June 1915 Great Barrington, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	2 October 1983(1983-10-02) (aged 68) Acton, Canberra, Australia
Spouse	John Gorton ​ (m. 1935)​
Children	3
Alma mater	Australian National University

Bettina Edith Gorton, Lady Gorton (née Brown; 23 June 1915 – 2 October 1983) was an American-born Australian academic who was best known as the first wife of John Gorton, the 19th Prime Minister of Australia. She was born in Portland, Maine, met her husband while studying in France, and married in 1935. She developed an interest in South-East Asian culture relatively late in life, learning to speak Malay and Javanese and completing her first university degree at the age of 50. She was involved with a long-running Australian National University project to compile a Malay–English dictionary, although she curtailed her involvement during her husband's prime ministership (1968–1971).