Sector farewells Anne Kantor AO
19 September 2022 at 3:44 pm
The philanthropic sector is mourning the passing of donor and activist Anne Kantor AO.
Highly-regarded philanthropist Anne Kantor AO died last week, aged 87.
Kantor was known within the for purpose sector for her commitment to social service, advocacy, environmental activism and philanthropy.
She gave financial support to a range of areas including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, social welfare, arts and education.
The Australia Institute, one of many causes Kantor supported, runs two fellowship programs in her name, The Anne Kantor Fellowship (General) and The Anne Kantor Young Women Environmentalists Fellowship.
“It was like Mum had passed on the baton to others to keep working on the things she cared about,” her daughter Eve Kantor told the Herald Sun of the programs.
The Australia Institute has asked for donations to the program in lieu of flowers.
Eve Kantor reflected on her mother’s commitment to social justice.
“As soon as we were all at school age, amongst other commitments she threw herself into her main passion, working with the families of prisoners at Pentridge,” she told The Herald Sun.
“She had a deep concern about social justice and inequities in wealth. She felt the prisoners’ partners and children needed support and she gave a lot of her time to them.”
The mother and philanthropist also worked with Casse Australia – (Creating a Safe Supportive Environment) – focusing on Indigenous issues and was also a key founding funder of ICAN, The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which received The Nobel Peace Prize.
She is survived by four of her children Julie, Eve, Kate and Michael and eleven grandchildren. Her husband, the late Dr Milan Kantor OAM, also known for his philanthropic work, passed away in 2019 aged 93.
The distinguished Australian, sister of Rupert Murdoch and daughter of Dame Elizabeth received an Officer of the Australian Order (AO) in 2016 in recognition for her life’s work.
