Born: 4 February 1937, Romania
Died: NA
Country most active: Australia
Also known as: NA
The following is republished with permission from the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.
Malvina has advocated for the rights of women, in particular migrant and refugee women, at the local, national and international level.
Honour Roll
After arriving in Australia as a stateless non-English-speaking migrant in 1949, Malvina has gone on to make an extraordinary contribution to Victoria and Australia through her work advocating for women’s rights.
Malvina has always advocated for women’s leadership and has consistently demonstrated this through numerous executive positions, including National President of the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia in 1985–1991, Executive member of the NGO Status of Women Council in 2005, and Status of Women advisor for the National Council of Women of Victoria Steering Committee in 2013.
In recognition of her outstanding achievements, in 1991 Malvina was awarded a Medal in the Order of Australia for her service to the community, particularly women’s affairs.
Many of her achievements have generated long-term benefits for the community locally, nationally and internationally. In particular, her research into thyroid function during pregnancy has undoubtedly had the greatest long-term impact for couples who have had trouble conceiving children.
Another of Malvina’s significant achievements is her development of the brochure Respect for Women for the National Council of Women Victoria Inc, which highlighted women’s rights and responsibilities. The brochure was subsequently launched at Parliament House in 2013 and received international acclaim at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
In addition, Malvina has always encouraged women to fully participate in community life. She has mentored a number of women and assisted in developing their skills and confidence through leadership positions.
This biography has been shared from The Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, published by the Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology, under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Chronology
1949
Life event – Settled in Australia
1958 – 1976
Career position – Clinical and Research Biochemist and Hospital Scientist at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Monash University and the Alfred Hospital, Victoria
1978 – 1979
Career position – Committee member of the Association of Hospital Scientists in Victoria
1980 – 1982
Career position – State President of the National Council of Jewish Women in Australia, Victoria
1985 –
Career position – Deputy Chairman of the National Status of Women Council
1985 – 1991
Career position – National President of the National Council of Jewish Women in Australia
1991
Award – Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) – for service to the community, particularly women’s affairs
1991 – 1993
Career position – Chairman of Women’s Organisations, JCCV
1993 – 1994
Career position – Vice-President of JCCV
1993 – 1999
Career position – Australian Vice-President of the International Council of Jewish Women
1999 –
Career position – Committee Chairperson of Health and Bioethics for the International Council of Jewish Women
1999 –
Career position – Honorary Trustee of the National Council of Jewish Women Australia