Wellington philanthropists on their most generous donation yet stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Dr Siouxsie Wiles, a microbiologist from the University of Auckland, has consistently provided Kiwis with information, breakthroughs and assurances throughout the pandemic. Here’s what she knows about the virus and why it spread across the globe so quickly. She didn’t do this because it is her job or, as some claim, because she is addicted to the media limelight. She did it because she thought it was the right thing to do when we were faced with a complex public health crisis. Public Health Professor Michael Baker, who was recently selected as Wellingtonian of the Year at
Adversity was something Inge knew a lot about.
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Inge Woolf in 2008, the year after she opened the New Zealand Holocaust Centre. Married to Ron Woolf, she had to deal with his sudden death in 1987, when he was photographing Wellington from a helicopter. Ron was at the height of a distinguished career in photography and his death was a major story at the time. The accident, which also resulted in the deaths of Peter Button and Dion Savage, could easily have led to the end of the business. A determined businesswoman, Inge kept Woolf Photography going, even doing some of the wedding pictures that her husband had booked, and remained an active director until the last few months of her life.
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Pictured in 2001, Inge Woolf, left, with her son and photographer Simon Woolf, and daughter Deborah Hart, hold some of the thousands of negatives and prints they donated to Te Papa. (File photo) She was a 2019 finalist in the Women of Influence Awards – Community Hero category, and more recently a finalist for the Welly Awards for community service. She established the Holcaust Centre with a dedicated group of survivors, refugees, and descendants, and remained an active fundraiser and educator until her death. She shared her story with thousands of students and members of the public over the years, encouraging them to stand up for what was right, speak out against prejudice and discrimination, and empowering them to know that hate starts small.