From Australia’s Jewish Past: Ruby Sophia Rich-Shalit – feminist, pianist and an outstanding community identity
In continuing the celebration of International Women’s Day, this story is of one amazing Jewish woman whose efforts for all Australian women should be applauded.
Ruby was born on 23 June 1888 at Walgett, New South Wales, the fourth of six children (four sons and two daughters) of German-born Louis Rich, storekeeper, and his Melbourne-born wife, Ada Baberfield. Shortly after Ruby’s birth, the family moved to Sydney, where her father, one of the pioneers of the Walgett and Moree districts, later became a successful investor in city properties in Sydney as well as a prominent member of the Jewish community. Louis passed away at his home in Point Piper at the age of 73 on 13 June 1918.
Ruby Sophia Rich-Shalit
Ruby had a happy childhood and was known to be highly intelligent but ‘hot-tempered when growing up’. She briefly attended a local kindergarten in Strathfield, and further education was carried out by governesses at the family home in Elizabeth Bay. Ruby learnt to speak French and German. Her father was indulgent, but his attitude towards the role of women reflected the times: ‘to find husbands, and to be good housekeepers and above all good cooks’. Her mother, however, encouraged the children to enjoy the arts, especially music, and Ruby showed exceptional talent for the piano – studying under Josef Kretschmann, a well-known and respected music teacher of the times.
As a child, she performed at the Sydney Town Hall to adoring audiences. Friday nights were spent at home with the children, always arranging some form of entertainment for family and friends. It was Ruby’s wish to become a concert pianist, but her father strongly disapproved, and there were many arguments between them. It was agreed that Ruby’s father should take her and her sister abroad and in 1905, they travelled to Europe.
Ruby did manage to further her music studies under the guidance of Artur Schnabel – an Austrian-American and one of the 20thcentury’s most well-respected pianists in Berlin and in Paris, with she studied with Raoul Pugno – a French composer, teacher, organist, and pianist known for his playing of Mozart’s works. Her father did, however, allow her to perform publicly in London, but on occasions such as a command performance for royalty or in fashionable drawing rooms, which Ruby detested. Her father would never allow her to play professionally, and, in fact, none of his daughters was allowed to earn a living.
Whilst in London, Ruby became involved with Britain’s suffragettes and developed a social conscience. She became committed to women’s issues and peace causes. Following a brief visit home, Ruby returned to London in 1911. During World War I she joined a Voluntary Aid Detachment and spent long periods in Switzerland, where she organised concert tours for the allied forces, participating herself as a concert pianist. When her younger brother was wounded in France in 1917, she returned with him to Australia and, following his death and that of his wife, adopted their young son, Charles.
In 1923, Ruby was introduced to Millicent Preston-Stanley, MP and President of the Feminist Club of NSW, and this spurred on her commitment to be involved politically. As Vice-President, she developed excellent public-speaking skills for which she became well known, both in Australia and overseas and shared the honours of ‘star speaker’ with Millicent Preston-Stanley. She campaigned and was honorary secretary for both Millicent and Jessie Street (activist, feminist and a lifelong campaigner for women’s rights, the peace movement and the elimination of discrimination against Aboriginal people) in their efforts to enter parliament, although their politics were diametrically opposite.
In 1929 Ruby took Charles to London to be educated. She continued her work for the status of women, representing the Australian Federation of Women Voters at the Women’s Nationality Conference in 1931 at The Hague and had the opportunity to sit on various committees. She was very involved in the peace movements of the League of Nations and the International Alliance of Women. On one occasion, she addressed three thousand people at a peace conference in Berlin. In 1935 Ruby returned to Australia and en route attended a conference of the International Alliance of Women in Istanbul, s well as an official observer with the League of Nations. She then visited Palestine to meet Arab members of the International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship.
Once back in Sydney, she met Bessie Rischbieth, (an Australian activist) and joined the Australian Federation of Women Voters, becoming President from 1945 to 1948 and later Honorary Life Vice-President. This was followed in 1949 when Ruby established the League of Women Voters of NSW, serving as its President in the 1950s and associating herself with Pan Pacific, South-East Asian, British Commonwealth and International Alliance women’s groups resulting in her holding at times a great number of official positions. For her commitment, she was acknowledged as ‘President of Honour’.
Taking a step back in time, through Marion Piddington (an Australian publicist active in the promotion of eugenics and sex education) Ruby in 1926 was invited to form a society to promote sex education of young women and the prevention of venereal disease at a time when such subjects were taboo. She became the inaugural President of the Racial Hygiene Association of NSW, the forerunner of the Family Planning Association, which she remained passionately committed to. When she retired as President in 1966, she was made Life Vice-President of the State Association and, in 1988, the Parramatta premises of the FPA of NSW were named after her.
During World War II Ruby helped to establish the Council for Women in War Work, serving on the Human Rights Standing Committee of the UN Association of Australia and joined the Pan-Pacific and South-East Asia Women’s Association of Australia, promoting the education of Indigenous women.
Age was no barrier for Ruby, working well into her eighties and attending and speaking at conferences, including the Women and Politics Conference in Canberra, where she received a standing ovation. She has been described as ‘a little bird-like woman of great charm’, and she admitted to ‘having no dress sense at all’. During her lifetime, she was involved in over fifty organisations, wrote a play and poetry, remained ‘vivacious and always great fun’, and valued the affection and loyalty of family and friends.
On 7 February 1937, at the Central Synagogue Sydney, Ruby married Moïse Aaron Schalit), a Melbourne doctor who was associated with the family planning movement and was also a long-standing family friend. She continued addressing international peace meetings and women’s groups, and threw herself into Jewish affairs. From 1936 Ruby was active in the NSW branch of Friends of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and, in 1971 was the first Australian to receive the Torch of Learning Award for her contribution to education and culture from the Hebrew University. She became the first President of the Australian Federation of the Women’s International Zionist Organisation (WIZO) and served from 1937 to 1940 as their first President. In 1961, she re-formed the Australian Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, of which she was honoured with becoming a Life President.
In the New Year Honours in 1967, she received the MBE and, in 1976, the United Nations Peace Medal for, among other activities, her role on the executive of the Australian League of Nations Union. In 1982, she received from the then Governor General, Sir Zelman Cowen, the ANZAC Peace Prize for promoting international understanding. Survived by her adopted nephew Charles, she died at Bondi on 10 May 1988, one month short of her one-hundredth birthday.
The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:-NC
The Australian Dictionary of Biography – Audrey Tate; Wikipedia; Beginning with Esther – Jewish Women in NSW – Lysbeth Cohen; National Library of Australia; Jewish & Non-Jewish Organisations to which Ruby Rich Shalit was associated
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