Lillian Georgina Frank (; 16 January 1930 – 12 August 2022) was a Burmese-born Australian hairdresser,

fashion influencer A fashion influencer is a personality that has a large number of followers on social media, creates mainly fashion content and has the power to influence the opinion and purchase behavior of others with their recommendations. Brand marketing, Bran ...

, philanthropist, fundraiser, and society columnist.

Life

Lillian Georgina Jacob was born in

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

(now

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

, Myanmar), in 1930. Her family fled to

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, from where she was sent to live with an aunt in the United Kingdom. She finally settled in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, in the 1950s. She established her first hairdressing salon in the city, and she later opened one in

Toorak, Victoria Toorak () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington Local government areas of Victoria, ...

. She became known for her celebrity clientele, including

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and

Jean Shrimpton Jean Rosemary Shrimpton (born 7 November 1942) is an English model and actress. She was an icon of Swinging London and is considered to be one of the world's first supermodels. She appeared on numerous magazine covers including '' Vogue,'' ''H ...

. She wrote a gossip column for the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

'' for about 40 years. She married Richard Frank in 1966, and they had two daughters. Lillian Frank died on 12 August 2022, aged 92.

Honours

* 1977 – Appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE), for services to charities (she was highly involved in charities such as the

Royal Children's Hospital The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), colloquially referred to as the Royal Children's, is a major children's hospital in Parkville, Victoria, Parkville, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Regarded as one of the great C ...

and

Odyssey House Odyssey House is the name of private not-for-profit organization established in 1967 in East Harlem to provide treatment and education for drug and alcohol addiction and victims of child abuse. While additional centres have since opened in the US ...

, Melbourne) * 1991 – Appointed a

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 * 2001 – Awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

, for services to the community through fund-raising and charity

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frank, Lillian 1930 births 2022 deaths Burmese emigrants to Australia Businesspeople from Melbourne Philanthropists from Melbourne Australian hairdressers Australian columnists Australian women columnists Members of the Order of Australia Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Melbourne