Susan Wakil

Susan Wakil was born in Bessarabia in 1933.[3] She came to Australia in 1949, having left Romania with her aunt, fleeing the Soviet government and war-torn Eastern Europe. Bessarabia, which today lies within Moldavia and Ukraine, was at that time a disputed territory, with the Soviet Union and Romania both laying claim to the country. Susan Wakil's mother had been taken away to a Soviet Concentration camp and did not survive the conflict. Her father was interned in a Siberian gulag.[4]

Susan came with her aunt to live in Sydney at the age of 15, and was later joined by her father upon his release. As a young girl, she attended the Holy Cross College in Woollahra, where she studied English and bookkeeping. Susan found work in the fashion industry and through this she met her future husband, Isaac Wakil.

Portrait of Susan Wakil by Shen Jiawei, in the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra

Isaac Wakil was born in Baghdad in 1927[5] and arrived in Australia to escape Iraq after the violence of the Farhud in 1941.[4] Susan and Isaac married in 1953.[1] They became successful entrepreneurs in the clothing trade and as their business flourished, they invested in many properties across the Sydney CBD and Pyrmont.[6][7]

Susan and Isaac Wakil Black and White Ball 1990

Susan and Isaac were generous philanthropists throughout their careers,[1] providing significant support to Opera Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, St Vincent’s Hospital and the Sydney Jewish Museum,[1][8] to a variety of educational, arts and charity organisations and regularly appearing in the social pages of many newspapers and magazines. For many years Susan enjoyed a busy social calendar which included countless hours of charity work. She joined the Black and White Committee in 1971 and was made Vice President in 1980, a position she held for the rest of her life.The Susan and Isaac Wakil Foundation was established in 2014.[1][3]

In 2017, both Susan and Isaac were appointed Officers of the Order of Australia for "distinguished service to the community through a range of philanthropic endeavours, and for their support of charitable, educational and cultural organisations".[9][10][11]

Portrait of Susan Wakil by Tsering Hannaford, in the MacLaurin Hall, the University of Sydney

Wakil died on 28 May 2018.[12]

The Susan and Isaac Wakil Foundation was established In 2014. The Wakils began selling many of their property investments and announced their intention to establish a charitable foundation.[3]

In 2015, a gift of $10.8 million was made to the University of Sydney to provide 12 perpetual nursing scholarships a year, half of them to support regional, rural or Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islanders. A few months later they made a donation of $35 million.[13] to support the construction of the Susan Wakil Health Building, which unites the University's medicine and health disciplines in one purpose-built facility at the University of Sydney.[14][1][15]

The Art Gallery of New South Wales' received a record $24 million donation to the Sydney Modern project and was the biggest cash donation in the institution’s history.[5] Additionally, Susan and Isaac provided guidance and a donation to fund an Opera Australia initiative to help first-time opera-goers to see performances at the Sydney Opera House.[16]

Susan Wakil

The Wakils were also major benefactors of the Sydney Jewish Museum, supporting the Fund for Jewish Higher Education,[8] making a significant contribution to tertiary-level Jewish studies and teacher training at the University of Sydney.

From 2015, through the Public Education Foundation, the Wakils funded scholarships for disadvantaged graduates of public schools undertaking tertiary or vocational education.[17]

Isaac Wakil has spoken of the joy the pair took in contributing to Australian cultural life. "Australia is a great country," he said when their gift to the University of Sydney Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery was announced. "It's a good feeling to give something back."[12]

In memory of his wife, in 2019 Isaac commissioned Chinese-Australian artist Shen Jiawei to paint a portrait of Susan, in which she wore a gown of one of her favoured designers, Yves St Laurent. The portrait was donated to the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.[18]

Mr Julian Leeser MP (Berowra) acknowledged Susan as one of Australia’s greatest benefactors in the grievance debate in Parliament, Wednesday 27 June 2018[19]