Ralph Bernardi Lord Mayor Of Melbourne 1979

Ralph Angelo Bernardi (6 January 1929 – 3 September 2012) Lord Mayor of Melbourne and Australian businessman. Born in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

NSW, to Angelo and Maria Bernardi, he was the first Italian Australian to reach this office. The son of Italian migrants, he was struck down with Polio at the age of 18 months. His family moved to Melbourne, where he attended St Bedes College Mentone. He married Marie Therese Lunn and together they ran a successful chain of hairdressing and fashion outlets in Victoria and NSW. During his time as Lord Mayor he opened the

Melbourne City Square The City Square was a public plaza located in the Melbourne Central Business District, Central Business District (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The site is currently bounded by Swanston Street, Collins Street, Mel ...

with Queen Elizabeth the Second, created the sister city relationship between Melbourne and The City of Tianjin

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Emma Bernardi is the loving granddaughter.

Biography

Bernardi attended St Bedes College in Mentone, Victoria, and later went on to studying accounting and Ladies Hairdressing becoming Chairman of The Master Ladies Hairdressers Association. In 1972 he was elected to the Melbourne City Council in the Bourke Ward and served as a councillor for 10 years eventually becoming Lord Mayor of Melbourne. During his time of on the council he was Chairman of the Electricity Committee and the Markets Committee and spearheaded the push for the

Queen Victoria Market The Queen Victoria Market (also known colloquially as Vic Market or Queen Vic) is a major landmark in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Covering over , it is the largest open air market in the Southern Hemi ...

in Melbourne to open to Sunday trading other achievements whilst on the council were signing off on the first outdoor cafe in Melbourne as well as pushing the case for cutouts in the sidewalks in the city to cater for wheelchair access. Suffering from Polio all his life he saw the need to champion the cause of access for the disabled.

Family

Two Siblings: Laura Bernardi, Mario Bernardi Married, Marie Therese Bernardi (née Lunn) Two Children: Pierre Bernardi, Simon Bernardi Grand child: Emma Bernardi

References

1929 births 2012 deaths Mayors and Lord Mayors of Melbourne Australian people of Italian descent 20th-century Australian businesspeople Victoria (state) local councillors People educated at St Bede's College (Mentone) {{Australia-business-bio-stub