Alice Eve-Marie Spigelman is a Hungarian-born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n clinical psychologist, writer and human rights advocate. She was previously chair of

Sculpture by the Sea The Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Sydney and Perth is Australia's largest annual outdoor sculpture Art exhibition, exhibition. This exhibition was initiated in 1997, at Bondi Beach and it featured sculptures by both Australian and overseas ...

. Her most recent book is ''The Budapest Job'', a thriller set in 1989, at the time of the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. She has written a play ''A Kind of Reunion,'' to be premiered in Sydney, NSW in December 2020.

Early life and education

Spigelman was born in Hungary and came to Sydney with her family in 1956. On arrival in Sydney, with little English, she started school at

Santa Sabina College Santa Sabina College (abbreviated as Santa, Santa Sabina or SSC) is a multi-campus independent Roman Catholic, single-sex, early learning, primary and secondary day school for girls from Year 5 to Year 12; and a co-educational day school fr ...

. She has a BA and MA and a postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

Career

Following publication of her biography of architect

Harry Seidler Harry Seidler (25 June 19239 March 2006) was an Austrian-born Australian architect who is considered to be one of the leading exponents of Modernism's methodology in Australia and the first architect to fully express the principles of the Bauh ...

, Spigelman gave a speech on him at

The Sydney Institute The Sydney Institute is a privately funded Australian policy forum founded on the 23 of August, 1989. The institute took over the resources of the New South Wales division of the Institute of Public Affairs. Columnist and writer Gerard Henderso ...

in April 2011 which was subsequently published in ''Sydney Papers'', vol. 13, no. 2 in 2001. Spigelman was, at one time, marketing director of The Benevolent Society, director of the Bundanon Trust,

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

Australian Institute of Music The Australian Institute of Music (AIM) is an Australian private tertiary education provider, with campuses in Sydney, New South Wales and Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1968, AIM delivers education for careers in the Australian music, enter ...

and the Rural Leadership Program. She became a director of Australia for UNHCR in February 2006 and was chair of the Women's Projects Committee in 2014. Spigelman was a member of the Advisory Council, Faculty of Built Environment at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

. She is also a member of the advisory board of the Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation, which helps members of the

Stolen Generation The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...

to take control of their future. Spigelman joined the Board of Sculpture by the Sea in 2010 and became chair in 2016.

Awards and recognition

In the

2012 Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours List 2012 was released on 16 June 2012 in the United Kingdom, on 11 June 2012 in Australia on 4 June 2012 in New Zealand,Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) for "service to the community as an advocate for

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and social justice, particularly for women and refugees, and through contributions to cultural organisations".

Works

Nonfiction

* ''Almost Full Circle: Harry Seidler: A biography'', Brandl & Schlesinger, 2001

Fiction

* ''The Budapest Job'', Brandl & Schlesinger, 2018 * ''A Kind of Reunion'', play * Her Brilliant Career, a play about Miles Franklin, staged readings at the State Library of NSW

Personal

She is the wife of

James Spigelman James Jacob Spigelman (born 1 January 1946) is a former Australian judge who served as Chief Justice of New South Wales from 1998 to 2011, and also as Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales from 1998 to 2012. He served on the Court of Final ...

, former

Chief Justice of New South Wales The Chief Justice of New South Wales is the senior judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the highest-ranking judicial officer in the Australian state of New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States a ...

, former Chairman of the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

. Former prime minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

was best man at their wedding in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Garry Shead's portrait of Spigelman was a finalist for the 1994 Archibald Prize.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spigelman, Alice Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian women psychologists Australian psychologists Australian women biographers Members of the Order of Australia Hungarian emigrants to Australia