Neville Gruzman AM

Neville Gruzman AM (1925–2005), architect and lecturer, was born in Sydney, the son of immigrants of Russian heritage. Schooled at Sydney Boys’ High, he initially intended to study medicine, but enrolled in architecture and town planning instead, graduating from at the University of Sydney in 1952 having studied under tutors such as George Molnar and Lloyd Rees. That year, he built his first house on the waterfront at Rose Bay; his own house at Darling Point was completed in 1958. From the late 1950s onward Gruzman's architectural practice went hand in hand with his propensity for litigation; he initiated some 30 cases in 40 years (conversely, he was hospitalised some 40 times in 30 years). He was renowned for criticising the work of other architects, especially Harry Seidler, but his supporters praised his determination to raise the standard of Sydney's built environment. From the 1960s through to 2003 Gruzman was an adjunct professor of architecture and sessional teacher at the University of New South Wales, and he served a confrontational term as Mayor of Woollahra in 1996.