Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n clinical psychologist, writer and human rights advocate. She is currently chair of
Sculpture by the Sea
The Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Sydney and Perth is Australia's largest annual outdoor sculpture exhibition. This exhibition was initiated in 1997, at Bondi Beach and it featured sculptures by both Australian and overseas artists. In ...
. Her most recent book is ''The Budapest Job'', a thriller set in 1989, at the time of the
collapse
Collapse or its variants may refer to:
Concepts
* Collapse (structural)
* Collapse (topology), a mathematical concept
* Collapsing manifold
* Collapse, the action of collapsing or telescoping objects
* Collapsing user interface elements
** ...
of the Soviet Union. She has written a play ''A Kind of Reunion,'' to be premiered in Sydney, NSW in December 2020.
Early life and education
Spigelman was born in Hungary and came to Sydney with her family in 1956. On arrival in Sydney, with little English, she started school at Santa Sabina College. She has a BA and MA and a postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology from the University of Sydney.
Career
Following publication of her biography of architect Harry Seidler, Spigelman gave a speech on him at
The Sydney Institute
The Sydney Institute is a privately funded Australian policy forum founded in 1989. The institute took over the resources of the Sydney Institute of Public Affairs which ceased activity in the late 1980s.
The institute was opened on 23 August 19 ...
in April 2011 which was subsequently published in ''Sydney Papers'', vol. 13, no. 2 in 2001.
Spigelman was, at one time, marketing director of The Benevolent Society, director of the
Bundanon Trust
Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd (24 July 1920 – 24 April 1999) was a leading Australian painter of the middle to late 20th century. Boyd's work ranges from impressionist renderings of Australian landscape to starkly expressionist figuration, ...
Australian Institute of Music
The Australian Institute of Music (AIM) is an Australian private tertiary education provider, with campuses in Sydney, New South Wales and Melbourne, Victoria.
Founded in 1968, AIM delivers education for careers in the Australian music, entert ...
and the Rural Leadership Program. She became a director of
Australia for UNHCR
Australia for UNHCR is an Australian charity that raises funds and support for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN's Refugee Agency. It was established on 4 July 2000.
Fundraising
The organisation raises funds for in ...
in February 2006 and was chair of the Women's Projects Committee in 2014. Spigelman was a member of the Advisory Council, Faculty of Built Environment at the University of New South Wales. She is also a member of the advisory board of the Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation, which helps members of the
Stolen Generation
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...
to take control of their future.
Spigelman joined the Board of Sculpture by the Sea in 2010 and became chair in 2016.
Awards and recognition
In the
2012 Queen's Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours List 2012 was released on 16 June 2012 in the United Kingdom. on 11 June 2012 in Australia on 4 June 2012 in New Zealand,Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for "service to the community as an advocate for human rights and social justice, particularly for women and refugees, and through contributions to cultural organisations".
Works
Nonfiction
* ''Almost Full Circle: Harry Seidler: A biography'', Brandl & Schlesinger, 2001
Fiction
* ''The Budapest Job'', Brandl & Schlesinger, 2018
* ''A Kind of Reunion'', play
* Her Brilliant Career, a play about Miles Franklin, staged readings at the State Library of NSW
Personal
She is the wife of
James Spigelman
James Jacob Spigelman (born 1 January 1946) is a former Australian judge who served as Chief Justice of New South Wales from 1998 to 2011. He was also Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales from 1998 to 2012. He served on the Court of Final App ...