Socialite & Philanthropist
Location: Jewish*EE*11
Elizabeth Bentwitch, known as Lizzie, Liz or Lizette, was born in Melbourne on 11 April 1874, the youngest child of Polish-born tobacconist Morris Bentwitch and Sydney-born Elizabeth nee Emanuel. She received what was described as a normal education for the period but did not proceed to higher education. As a young woman, she reportedly assisted with sales in her father’s business at 172 Swanston Street, which also operated as a theatre ticket agency.
In March 1898, Lizzie accompanied her parents to England. Her father died in London that August, after which Lizzie and her mother briefly returned to Melbourne to settle his affairs. They left Australia again in February 1901 intending to remain in England. Following her mother’s death in 1913, Lizzie became more active within the extended Anglo-Australian Bentwich family network.
Lizzie is best remembered for her intimate relationship with General Sir Sir John Monash (q.v.). Historian Ann M. Mitchell explicitly describes Lizzie as Monash’s mistress and identifies him as the love of her life. Their relationship caused conflict within the Monash household when Lizzie returned to Melbourne in 1920. A photograph taken in Melbourne in 1930 records them together shortly before Monash’s death the following year.
Lizzie never married. She understated her age by between ten and fifteen years throughout much of her adult life, reportedly deceiving even Monash until he established her true year of birth. After his death, she travelled frequently between London and Melbourne and arranged for a grave in Brighton General Cemetery’s Jewish section, only a short distance from the Monash tomb.
In September 1951, aged 77, Lizzie returned to Australia aboard the Himalaya. She lived at Majestic Mansions in Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, although she retained a deposit receipt for a return journey to England. On 24 March 1952, following consultation with her cousin Norman Bentwich, she signed her will and placed her affairs in the hands of Melbourne trustees.
Lizzie died in a private hospital in Toorak on 27 November 1954, aged 80, and was buried at Brighton General Cemetery. Her estate was valued at £31,038 net. A little over two-thirds was devoted to prizes and scholarships at Trinity College, Cambridge, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Melbourne. Her University of Melbourne bequest held particular significance because Monash had served as the university’s Vice-Chancellor at the time of his death. The resulting awards continue to preserve the name of Lizette Bentwitch.
Although frequently remembered chiefly through her relationship with Monash, Lizzie was also an independently wealthy woman and educational benefactor whose carefully managed estate created an enduring academic legacy.
Sources:
Contemporary newspaper memorial notices published by Lizette Bentwitch following Monash’s death.
University of Melbourne, Lizette Bentwitch Scholarship.
Monash University Archives, research collections relating to Lizette Bentwich and Sir John Monash.
Australian War Memorial, Croix de Guerre presented by Sir John Monash to Miss E. Bentwitch.
Ann M. Mitchell, “Bentwiches Explained: 1840s to 1940s”, Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal, vol. 21, 2013, pp. 337–407.
Contemporary memorial notices placed following Monash’s death: Trove article 261445329, Trove article 265914831, Trove article 263162333, Trove article 261655011, Trove article 67888103, Trove article 4413833 and Trove article 205429108.
Photo: National Library of Australia, Papers of Sir Robert Menzies, MS 4936, box 353/folder 72.