Dr Stella Cornelius AO OBE

Stella Cornelius AO OBE (1919–2010), businesswoman and peace activist, was born to Jewish parents in Sydney and grew up moving around New South Wales as her father, a draper and tailor, found work during the Depression. She married a German Jewish furrier, Max Cornelius, in 1943 and together they established and built Cornelius Furs, which traded on the corner of King and Castlereagh streets in Sydney and remained one of Australia's leading luxury retailers for decades. In 1973, Stella founded the Peace and Conflict Resolution Program for the UN Association of Australia (UNAA). After Max died in 1978, Stella devoted herself to conflict resolution and peace. In 1982 she proposed an Australian Ministry of Peace and in 1985 established a National Consultative Committee on Peace and Disarmament. From 1984 to 1986 she was director of the Australian Government Secretariat for the UN International Year of Peace and in 1986 she established the Conflict Resolution Network. She initiated the UNAA Media Peace Awards and founded the Gateway Committee supporting Indo-Chinese refugees. She was vice-president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, a member of the National Committee for Human Rights Education, a founding member of the Inter-Religious Council for Peace and a life member of the Australian Red Cross. Having helped to establish the Centre for Conflict Resolution that opened at Macquarie University in 1988, Stella received an honorary doctorate from the institution in 1999. In 2000 Nelson Mandela recognised her human rights activism, and in 2005 she was among the 1000 women jointly nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2010 she gained the UNAA International Peace Award.