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Cowie received a somewhat irregular primary school education, attending five primary schools in Tasmania and Victoria up to the age of twelve. His father being an itinerant worker, during his adolescence Cowie was raised by his paternal Grandmother, whilst completing his secondary education at Launceston State High School (1949-1953). He graduated B.A. in 1958 from the University of Tasmania, with Majors in Modern History, Ancient Civilizations, and Political Science. He holds a Preliminary Certificate in Librarianship from the Library Association of Australia, Sydney (1961). In 1984 he was awarded the degree of Dottore in Lettere “110/110, con lode e la dignità di stampa – with first-class honours and worthy of publication” from the University of Turin, Italy, for specialist studies in Australian literature and the work of well-known Australian novelist Christopher Koch.
After graduation, Cowie taught English, Social Studies and Music (History and Theory), in Tasmanian high schools for 3 years. He then worked as a reference librarian in Launceston, Tasmania and after as a graduate cataloguer at Townsville University College (now James Cook University), before leaving Australia for Europe in 1966. He has taught English as a Foreign Language in England and Italy up to University level (at the Universities of Turin and Messina) for over 35 years. Whilst resident in Turin, during the years 1973-1981, Cowie also worked in the ever-expanding stationery field at Settimo Torinese as foreign correspondent, translator and interpreter. Cowie retired in late 2002, following a ten-year attachment to the Institute of International and European Community Studies at the University of Messina.
Cowie’s major research and published work deals with Garibaldi’s Second Exile (1849-1854), with emphasis on his Latin-American and Far-Eastern travels (1850-1853). His work has received wide recognition in both Italy and Peru, as a positive, evidence-based contribution to deepening and widening understanding of these previously little-researched periods of the great Patriot’s life. Cowie has been a Member of the Istituto per la Storia del Risorgimento, at the Vittoriano, Rome, since 1981.
Cowie was honoured with membership of the Scientific Committee of the Istituto Garibaldino e Risorgimentale in Marsala, Sicily, in 2000.
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