Ruby Rich Shalit MBE z'l

Ruby Rich Shalit MBE z”l was the first WIZO Australia Federal President. Born in 1888 in Walgett NSW, she and her family moved to Sydney where Ruby grew up dreaming of becoming a concert pianist. During her studies abroad she encountered the suffragette movement, and this awakened her social conscience and commitment to women’s issues. She became WIZO’s first Federal President in 1937, was appointed MBE in 1967, won the ANZAC Peace Medal in 1967, and the U.N. Peace Prize in 1971. Ruby passed away in 1988, just one month shy of her 100th birthday.