Noel Leslie Macainsh was a poet, author, academic and translator born on 15 June 1926 in Horsham, Victoria. After serving in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War Two then working as a professional engineer, he pursued higher education at the University of Melbourne, earning a Master of Arts in 1965 and a PhD in Germanic Studies in 1967. He then joined James Cook University in North Queensland as a Reader in English in 1969, a position he held until his retirement in 1989. During this period he resided in Black River, north of Townsville.

Macainsh was a prolific writer, producing literary criticism on Australian poetry, literature and translations featured in anthologies, newspapers, and journals both in Australia and internationally. In 1991, he moved to Northern Italy, where he lived in Padenghe sul Garda until he died in 2012, survived by his wife, Camilla Bettoni, and his children, Gregory, Andrew and Rilka. His son, Gregory Macainsh, was a member of the band Skyhooks.