Nina Bassat
Leader in the Victorian Jewish community
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Biography
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]