Ethel Rebecca Benjamin, 1875–1943
Ethel Benjamin graduated with an LLB from the University of Otago in 1897 – she was the first woman in New Zealand to do so. Initially, she suffered discrimination and a lack of acceptance from the male domain of the legal profession. Nevertheless, she established a number of successful practices working as a barrister and solicitor. An advocate of women’s rights, Ethel Benjamin worked closely with women’s and children’s cases in Dunedin.
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Charles Orwell Brasch, 1909–1973
Charles Brasch, a member of Dunedin’s extended Jewish community of business families, pursued a career in the arts. After his 1946 return to New Zealand from Europe he founded New Zealand’s most influential literary magazine, Landfall, and gained a high reputation as a poet.
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Minnie Maria Dronke, 1904–1987
New Zealand theatre profited enormously from the arrival of Maria Dronke, a refugee from German anti-Semitism. For close to 40 years she directed plays and actively promoted drama in Wellington.
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Hugo Friedlander, 1850–1928
An East European Jew, Hugo Friedlander became one of Canterbury’s prominent dealers in grain and wool. He played a prominent role in Ashburton’s public life, but left for Auckland in 1918 after being subject to anti-German prejudice.
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Michael Myers, 1873–1950
The 13th child of Jewish parents, Michael Myers became a successful and dedicated lawyer. In 1929 he was appointed sixth chief justice of the Supreme Court of New Zealand.
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Karl Raimund Popper, 1902–1994
A Jewish refugee from Nazism, the philosopher Karl Popper took up a position at Canterbury University College in 1937. Although he returned to Europe in 1945 and achieved international renown, while in New Zealand he wrote an influential book of the 20th century, The open society and its enemies.
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Emily Hancock Siedeberg, 1873–1968
Emily Siedeberg grew up in Dunedin. Encouraged by her father, and grudgingly accepted by staff, she became the first woman to graduate in medicine at the University of Otago Medical School. After postgraduate training and work experience overseas, she eventually registered as a medical practitioner and set up a private practice in Dunedin. Dr Siedeberg was active in community and welfare work.
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Dorothy Michaelis Theomin, 1888–1966
The daughter of a prosperous Dunedin Jewish businessman, Dorothy Theomin made her mark – unusually for her time – as a mountaineer. She climbed difficult peaks with leading mountain guides. Notable also as a philanthropist, she gave the family home Olveston to the city of Dunedin.
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Frederick Turnovsky, 1916–1994
From a Prague family that was Jewish, though not religious, Frederick Turnovsky brought a passion for music to New Zealand in 1940. Prospering in business, he promoted chamber music and opera in his adopted country.
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