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The Sovereign State of Aeterna Lucina (referred to in some court transcripts as the Sovereign Humanitarian Mission State of Aeterna Lucina) was an Australian micronation that existed between the late 1970s until the death of its founder in the 1990s.
The founder and "Supreme Lord" of Aeterna Lucina was one Paul Baron Neuman (originally Paul Robert Neuman until he changed it by deed poll), a German-born pensioner from the northern Sydney beachside suburb of Curl Curl who claimed to have received the title "Baron Neuman of Kara Bagh" from the exiled former King Hassan III of Afghanistan. He also claimed to have been awarded over 850 other honours, including Professorships, Doctorates of Philosophy and Divinity, and dozens of chivalric honours, including that of "Grand Master of the Order of the White Cross".
Aeterna Lucina (apparently named for the Roman goddess of childbirth) was founded in 1978, and initially occupied a property owned by Neuman near Byron Bay. At some point during the 1980s the "state" moved temporarily to Neuman's Curl Curl residence, before its final relocation to a 14 km² rural property near the Snowy Mountains town of Cooma, in southern New South Wales. According to a 1989 television report the Curl Curl residence - known as Vitama - was considered to be the micronation's capital.
The state of Aeterna Lucina came to public attention in 1990 when several people associated with it, including a leading Sydney businessman, faced fraud charges relating to visa and land sale offences in the New South Wales court system. <more to come>
References
- "Bleyer's Honours Outlined", by Anabel Dean, The Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au), 20 June, 1989, p7
- "$50,000 Paid to Live in 'Ideal' State, Claim", by Alison McClymont, The Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au), 1 September, 1990, p23
- "Clouds Cleared on Baron's Reign", by Malcolm Brown, The Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au), 23 June, 1992, p10
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