Janina "Nina" Bassat AM (born 1939) is a leader in the Victorian Jewish community. She served as president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) between 1996 and 1998.[1] Then she was again president for three years before retiring again in 2014.[2] She has also served as president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ)[3] between 1999 and 2001.[4]

Nina Bassat
Born1939
Lwowiec
Known forHolocaust survivor
Notable workJewish Community Council of Victoria
AwardsVictorian Honour Roll of Women

Biography

edit

Bassat was born in Lwow, Poland.[5] Bassat is a survivor of the Holocaust.[6] She and her mother went to Melbourne, Australia in 1949 after living in a "displaced person's camp in Germany."[7] She attended the University of Melbourne, studying law and graduating in 1965.[4] Bassat started her own law practice in 1980.[7]

During her time as president of JCCV she provided welcome support for LGBT Jews in Victoria.[8] She also set up a National Restitution Hotline as president of the ECAJ for survivors of the Holocaust in order to facilitate restitution claims.[7] She has also been involved in "resettling Jews from the former Soviet Union."[4]

Bassat was inducted in the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2003.[9] In 2004, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of her services as an executive member of "peak Jewish organisations and through the promotion of greater community understanding."[10] In 2009, she received the JCCV General Sir John Monash Award for her "outstanding service to the Victorian Jewish community."[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Bassat Returns as JCCV President". The Australian Jewish News. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  2. ^ "A Fond Farewell to Nina". The Australian Jewish News. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  3. ^ Harvey, Claire (12 April 2001). "Holocaust Victims Fear Tax on Payout". The Australian. Retrieved 11 December 2015 – via Newspaper Source - EBSCOhost.
  4. ^ a b c d Kohn, Peter (28 October 2009). "Nina Bassat Honoured For Communal Work". The Australian Jewish News. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  5. ^ "JHC Social Club: Nina Bassat AM". Jewish Holocaust Centre. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  6. ^ Rutland, Suzanne (1 March 2009). "Australia: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  7. ^ a b c Victorian Honour Roll of Women (booklet). Victorian Government: Office of Women's Policy. 2003. p. 5.
  8. ^ Riley, Benjamin (27 August 2014). "Promoting LGBTI Inclusion a Key Issue for Victoria's Jewish Community". Star Observer. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  9. ^ "2014 Victorian Honour Roll of Women" (PDF). The Office of Women's Affairs. State of Victoria. March 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  10. ^ "Bassat, Janina". It's an Honour. Australian Government. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
edit