• Entry type: Person
  • Entry ID: AWE0431

Gantner, Neilma

(1922 – 2015)
  • Born 7 November, 1922, San Francisco California United States
  • Died 15 June, 2015, Bermagui New South Wales Australia
  • Occupation Philanthropist, Writer

Summary

Neilma Gantner, along with her son Carillo and brother Baillieu Myer, established The Gantner Myer Collection of Australian Aboriginal Art. Assembled over a four-year period by curator Jennifer Isaacs, the collection was unveiled in San Francisco in September 1999.

Neilma is the eldest daughter of Sidney and Merlyn (née Baillieu) Myer. Like her three siblings, she was born in San Francisco, California, but raised in Melbourne. Neilma completed her tertiary education at the Universities of Melbourne and Stanford. In 1941 she married Vallejo Gantner (later divorced) and they were to have two sons (one deceased).

Neilma Gantner was a member of the Executive of International Social Service, and of the Myer Foundation and the Sidney Myer Fund. She worked as a novelist, poet and short story writer under the pseudonym of Neilma Sidney, and founded the Four Winds Cultural Festival (Bermagui, New South Wales).

Published resources

  • Book
    • Sunday evening : stories, Sidney, Neilma, 1988
    • Saturday afternoon and other stories, Sidney, Neilma, 1959
    • The Eye of the needle, Sidney, Neilma, 1970
    • Beyond the bay, Sidney, Neilma, 1966
    • Beaches, Sidney, Neilma and Williams, Margaret (illustrated by), 1964
    • Journey to Mourilyan : a coastal pilgrimage, Sidney, Neilma, 1992
    • The sweet cool south wind, Sidney, Neilma, 1993
    • The return, Sidney, Neilma, 1976
    • Journey to Mourilyan : a coastal pilgrimage, Sidney, Neilma, 1986
    • Australian women writers : a bibliographic guide, Adelaide, Debra, 1988
  • Resource

Archival resources

  • The University of Melbourne Archives
    • Fitzpatrick, Kathleen Elizabeth (1905-1990)
    • Meanjin Editorial Records of C B Christesen
  • National Library of Australia, Manuscript Collection
    • Letters 1958-1972 [manuscript]
    • Papers of Neilma Gantner, 1983-1992 [manuscript]
  • National Library of Australia, Oral History and Folklore Collection
    • Neilma Gantner interviewed by Martin Thomas

Related entries


  • Sister
    • Southey, Marigold Merlyn Baillieu (1928 - )
  • Mother
    • Myer, Margery (Merlyn) Baillieu (1900 - 1982)