Julia Rapke

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(11 February 1886 – 9 October 1959) was an Australian, Jewish women's rights activist and

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, who held numerous roles in women's organisations regionally, nationally and internationally, including presidency of the Australian chapter of the

Women's International Zionist Organization The Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO; he, ויצו ') is a volunteer organization dedicated to social welfare in all sectors of Israeli society, the advancement of the status of women, and Jewish education in Israel and the Diasp ...

Education and family

Julia Rachel Levoi was born on 11 February 1886 in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in New Zealand; her parents were Ralph and Miriam. She attended Wellington Girls' High School for a time, until the family emigrated to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia. She married Abraham Rapke on 28 November 1906 at the synagogue in St Kilda, Melbourne. They went on to have two sons and a daughter. One son, Trevor Rapke, went on to become a judge and a Rear Admiral. Abraham died in 1940. Their daughter Betty died in 1954.

Career

Rapke's career in the charitable sector began in the 1920s, when she was appointed secretary of the Maternity Patients' Convalescent Home. In 1929 she was appointed as a

, and as a magistrate of the Children's Court of St Kilda. She founded and was the first president of the Women Justices' Association of Victoria.

Women's rights

From 1927 to 1931 she was the secretary of the Victorian Women Citizens' Movement, which was the State affiliate of the

Australian Federation of Women Voters The Australian Federation of Women Voters (AFWV) originally the Australian Womens Register in 1921 became the AFWV in 1924. Also known as The Australian Federation of Women's Societies for Equal Citizenship it was founded as a national lobby grou ...

. Active in the suffrage movement, she was convenor of the National Council of Women of Victoria's rights of citizenship committee. In 1936 Rapke was elected President of the Victorian Women Citizens' Movement, and also vice-president of Australian Federation of Women Voters, a role she held until 1957. Politically conservative, Rapke was a member of the

Australian Women's National League The Australian Women's National League (AWNL) was an Australian political lobby group federation first established in 1904. It acted in many ways like a political party, with an extensive branch network and the capability to run its own candidates ...

and campaigned on behalf of the United Australia Party. Nevertheless, as a member of Victorian Women Citizens' Movement she became their delegate to the

. Through her work for the federation, she was appointed secretary of the Australian Pan-Pacific Women's Committee, and also secretary and treasurer of Australian Joint Standing Committee of Women's Federal Organizations. Although, in 1946, she recommended that both organisations be disbanded, due to their limited activity during the Second World War.

Second World War

During the Second World War, Rapke was vice-president of the Council for Women in War Work, was a member of the Co-ordinating Committee for Child Welfare in Wartime, the Victorian International Refugee Emergency Council and the Australian Open Door Council. In 1944, Rapke was one of two Jewish women who attended the Australian Women's Conference for War and Peace. The

League of Women Voters of Victoria League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

was established on 8 August 1945, and Rapke was its first president. It was formed out of a coalition of the Victorian Women Citizens' Movement, the Women for Canberra Movement and the League of Women Electors. The league, under Rapke, established a fund to commemorate the activism of Vida Goldstein. In 1946 she founded a women's model parliament, based on the format of the Parliamentary Debaters Society, that she had participated in at a Constitutional Club. The same year she led a women's anti-nuclear protest.

Women's International Zionist Organization

During the Second World War, Rapke took on federal secretarial responsibilities for the

(WIZO). However, her responsibilities with the organisation increased in the post-war period. In 1947 she organised WIZO's second national conference. From 1952 to 1954 she was president of the organisation's Victoria branch. In 1954 she was appointed federal president of WIZO and the same year appointed to its World Executive.

Later life and death

In 1957 Rapke was awarded an

for "raising the profile of women". She died in Melbourne on 9 October 1959. She was buried in

Springvale Botanical Cemetery The Springvale Botanical Cemetery is the largest crematorium and memorial park in Victoria, Australia. It is located in Springvale, in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. History Originally known as The Necropolis Springvale, the cemetery co ...

Legacy

The archive of her papers and correspondence is held at the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

. Part of the Ida Wynn Children's Centre at

Mount Carmel Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah), is a c ...

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

is named in Rapke's honour. Rapke Place, in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm, was named after her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rapke, Julia 1886 births 1959 deaths Australian Jews Australian Zionists Australian women's rights activists Australian magistrates Australian suffragists Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Women's International Zionist Organization politicians New Zealand emigrants to Australia Australian women judges New Zealand Jews People from Christchurch Jewish suffragists Activists from Melbourne New Zealand Zionists