# Estelle Asmodelle

Estelle Asmodelle (born 22 April 1964), formerly known as Estelle Maria Croot, is an Australian polymath and transgender activist. She has also worked as a model, actress, belly dancer, musician, abstract artist, and physicist. On 13 October 1987, she became the first legal transgender person in Australia to be recognised by the Births, Deaths and Marriages Department of New South Wales. She was the first Australian trans person to receive a passport with a revised gender marker. In 1986, she was referred to as "Australia’s First Sex-Change Pin-up Girl" and has a subject of media coverage since the 1980s.

## Early life

Estelle Asmodelle was the first-born child of Silvia and Barry Croot. Her father’s side of the family was Latvian and her mother’s side was English. Asmodelle has one sibling named Belinda. Asmodelle grew up in Berrima, New South Wales. She attended St Paul’s Primary School in Moss Vale and Chevalier College. At the end of year 9, Asmodelle contracted meningitis while on holiday in Narooma. She was in a coma for three weeks and used a wheelchair for three months, later spending nine months in a convalescent hospital. She made a full recovery.
After briefly working in Sydney, Asmodelle moved to Wollongong to attend the University of Wollongong, where she pursued degrees in science and mathematics, hoping to become a research scientist. She also participated in music ensembles, including N-lettes and Miscellaneous Music, composing and performing experimental avant-garde music. At university, she experienced transphobic discrimination from members of the academic staff. As a result, Asmodelle left the university to focus on art and music.

## Activism

While touring in Singapore, Asmodelle was detained and placed under house arrest due to her passport designating her as male. This and other travel-related challenges led her to advocate for legal reforms in Australia. At the time, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade did not issue female passports to trans women.
Asmodelle persistently petitioned the Attorney-General's office. In 1987, she was invited by the Attorney General of New South Wales to be the first trans person to have her birth certificate amended, making her the first legally recognized trans woman in Australia. Months later, her passport sex designation was also amended. The following year, she lobbied for changes to anti-discrimination laws and for state hospital ethics boards to permit research into pregnancy for trans women.
Asmodelle continues to advocate for the trans community and has spoken out against anti-transgender hate groups.

## Creative work

After leaving Wollongong University, Asmodelle worked briefly as an assistant photographer while taking dance classes at the Sydney Dance Company and with a private instructor. Asmodelle performed in large female revue shows across Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan. During this time, she also worked part-time as a photographic model. She later ended her touring career and returned to Australia to perform as a solo belly dancer.
Asmodelle worked as a photographic model in Japan from 1988 to 1992. During this time, she had a small role in the 1989 film 24 Hour Playboy (Ai to Heisei no Iro - Otoko). After leaving Japan, she appeared in several Australian films, including the belly dancing documentary The Enchanted Dance.
In 1986, she became known as "Australia's First Transsexual Pin-up" by appearing nude in Australian Playgirl. It was the first time a trans woman had appeared nude in a mainstream magazine in Australia.
In 2000, she lived and modelled in Los Angeles while studying at the Lena Harris Studio with a full scholarship.
Asmodelle has been creating abstract art since childhood and began working on large canvases while studying at Wollongong University. Her art has been displayed in Tokyo, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Sydney and regional NSW. In 2010, she published her first art book, Transience. Asmodelle is considered a best-selling artist in Australia and internationally, appearing on all major art marketplaces and databases The Extreme Abstracts of Estelle Asmodelle.
Asmodelle's work has been featured in numerous publications. She has also won several art awards.
Asmodelle has written screenplays and two books. Anaesthetic Dream is an autobiography about changing sex and her struggle to be recognised as the first legal transgender person in Australia.
Since 2005, Asmodelle has also been composing electronic music. She has released seven albums and records under the name Asmodelle. Asmodelle has won or been nominated for several music awards. Her music is available on all major streaming services such as iTunes, Spotify and others, while details of here releases are listed on Discogs

## Professional and academic work

While modelling in Japan, Estelle Asmodelle consulted casually as a technical consultant for several Japanese technology companies. She has developed several technological patents. Asmodelle's designs have been cited in the engineering field.
After returning to Australia, Asmodelle continued her work as a technical consultant. In 1998, she founded the internet company Ellenet Pty. Ltd. and since then was described as an internet entrepreneur. In 2016, Ellenet Pty. Ltd. was sold to Sandgate Solutions.
In 2008, she returned to academia, studying astronomy at the University of Central Lancashire.

## Academia

Estelle Asmodelle has published multiple papers in scientific journals. She contributed six articles on physics and space to Cosmos magazine in 2010 and 2011. Several authors have cited her works.
She has been a member of various scientific organizations and runs an astronomy and cosmology blog.
In early 2013, Asmodelle was invited to become a Fellow of the Institute of Science and Technology (IST). In May 2013, she was featured in the Express Advocate for an introductory cosmology course she conducted at Central Coast Community College.
She earned a Bachelor of Science (Honours) with 1st Class honours in Astronomy from the University of Central Lancashire in 2017.
In January 2018, Asmodelle started a PhD, on a full scholarship, at the Centre for Quantum Computation & Communication Technology, School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland, working in the field of quantum mechanics and relativity. Asmodelle suspended her PhD with the University of Queensland in 2020, due to COVID.
Asmodelle's academic papers, published with various scientific journals, are listed on Google Scholar.