Primrose Potter, Lady Potter AC (born 23 April 1931) is an Australian philanthropist and arts administrator. She is particularly associated with

The Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and direc ...

. She is the widow of Sir

Ian Potter Sir William Ian Potter (25 August 190224 October 1994), known as Ian Potter, was an Australian stockbroker, businessman and philanthropist. Potter was knighted in 1962. The Ian Potter Foundation, which he established in 1964, has made grants t ...

Life

Primrose Catherine Anderson-Stuart was born in Sydney in 1931, the daughter of a radiologist, Bouviere Anderson-Stuart. Her grandfather was Sir

Thomas Peter Anderson Stuart Sir Thomas Peter Anderson Stuart (20 June 1856 – 29 February 1920) was a Scottish-born professor of physiology, founder of the medical school at the University of Sydney.J. Atherton Young,Stuart, Sir Thomas Peter Anderson (1856 - 1920), Aus ...

, who established the Medical School at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

. She was educated at Ascham School.cloudfiles
/ref> Her first marriage, in 1952, was to a doctor, Roger Dunlop, with whom she had a daughter, Primrose Dunlop, known as "Pitty Pat". After their divorce in 1969, she married businessman and stockbroker Sir

in 1975, becoming Lady Potter. They had met at a dinner hosted by

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and Sonia McMahon. Sir Ian Potter had children from three earlier marriages. Primrose Potter has been: director and Victorian chairman of the

Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust is a theatre and performing arts company that was founded in September 1954, with the aim of establishing drama, opera and ballet companies nationally. Founding In 1954 the Australian Elizabethan Theatre T ...

1989 to 1991; director of the

Bell Shakespeare Bell Shakespeare is an Australian theatre company specialising in the works of William Shakespeare, his contemporaries and other classics. It is based in Sydney. The Bell Shakespeare vision is to create theatre that allows audiences of all wa ...

company 1990 to 1991; trustee of American Friends of the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

since 1989; national president of the Australian Ballet Special Events Committee 1993; member of the

Howard Florey Institute The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, more commonly known as the Florey Institute, is an Australian medical research institute that undertakes clinical and applied research into treatments for brain and mind disorders and the ...

; member of the

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research WEHI (), previously known as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, is Australia's oldest medical research institute. Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, who won the Nobel Prize in 1960 for ...

; director of the Ian Potter Museum of Art from 1999; and life governor of the

Ian Potter Foundation Sir William Ian Potter (25 August 190224 October 1994), known as Ian Potter, was an Australian stockbroker, businessman and philanthropist. Potter was knighted in 1962. The Ian Potter Foundation, which he established in 1964, has made grants to ...

."To the manners born"

Michael Shmith Michael Shmith (born 7 July 1949) is an Australian journalist and writer. He was born on 7 July 1949, the son of Athol Shmith and his wife Patricia "Bambi" ''née'' Tuckwell (they later divorced). He worked at ''The Age'' in Melbourne from 1981 ...

, ''

The Sunday Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'', 3 October 2004] She was founding honorary patron of the Melba Foundation, founding patron of the Victorian Opera company, and patron of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. She is currently patron-in-chief of the Solomon Foundation, a charity that supports various social development projects in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

. She has also raised funds for The Smith Family, the

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor. Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...

, and the Victorian AIDS Council (VAC).

Honours

In the 1988 Queen's Birthday Honours, Lady Potter was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to the arts and the community. In 2003 she was promoted to Companion of the Order (AC) for leadership and for encouragement of support for critical community growth through fundraising and philanthropy in the arts, sciences, education and social welfare. In February 2010

named its headquarters in Southbank, Melbourne, the Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre, to honour her 35 years of service to the organisation. She has been awarded honorary doctorates from Australian Catholic University, and

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

.Monash University
/ref> She is a member of the Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, and in 2003 she was appointed a commendatore of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

, for her work promoting Italian culture in Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Primrose 1931 births Living people Australian women philanthropists Australian philanthropists Australian arts administrators Women arts administrators Companions of the Order of Australia Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic People from Sydney People educated at Ascham School Recipients of the Order of Saint Lazarus (statuted 1910)