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About Maurice Ashkanasy
- Maurice Ashkanasy CMG (3 October 1901 – 2 April 1971) was an Australian barrister and Jewish community leader. Ashkanasy was born Moshe Ashckinasy at Mile End Old Town in London to Palestinian-born tailor's cutter Solomon Ashckinasy and Annie, née Cohen, who was born in Russia.
- They emigrated to Australia in 1910 and lived in Melbourne, where Solomon worked as a scholar and Annie sold clothes.
- Maurice attended state schools including Melbourne High School before studying law at the University of Melbourne, receiving a Bachelor of Law in 1923 and a Master of Law in 1924.
- Admitted to the bar in 1924 having read with his lifelong friend Robert Menzies, he took silk in 1940.
- He married Heather Helen Epstein at East Melbourne Synagogue on 29 June 1927.Ashkanasy was transferred to the Australian Imperial Force from the Reserve on 2 July 1940 as a lieutenant and embarked on 3 February 1941 for Singapore with the 8th Division.
- He was the deputy adjutant-general and legal officer for the AIF in Malaya and in October was promoted major.
- Following the fall of Singapore in February 1942, Ashkanasy led a small group in an audacious escape, ultimately reaching Fremantle in Western Australia via the Netherlands East Indies.
- Now a lieutenant colonel, Ashkanasy served in New Guinea and was mentioned in dispatches.
- He retired from active duty in September 1944 and returned to the reserve in February 1945 as an honorary colonel.Returning to the Bar, Ashkanasy was elected vice-chairman of the Victorian Bar Council in March 1952 and served as chairman from 1953 to 1956.
- He was instrumental in the construction of the Owen Dixon Chambers and was chairman of the Victorian section of the International Commission of Jurists, of which he was also Australian vice-president.
- A member of the Labor Party, Ashkanasy twice contested federal elections unsuccessfully, in 1946 (for the seat of Balaclava) and 1958 (for the Senate).
- Prior to the 1961 election Ashkanasy lost an acrimonious ALP Senate preselection contest to Sam Cohen, who became the first Jewish person elected to the Senate.
- Ashkanasy was aligned with the Labor Right faction and Cohen with the Labor Left faction.Ashkanasy was also a leader in the Australian Jewish community and had been one of the founders of the Judaean League, a Jewish youth group.
- He was the founding president of the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies in 1947 and served five times as president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
- Ashkanasy was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1961.
- He died at Frankston of heart disease in 1971 and was buried in Springvale Cemetery; he is commemorated with a national Jewish award.
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