June 14, 2021
Arts and business all Maori culture for grand Dame
An expert in business and entrepreneurship as well as the creative arts says the late Dame Georgina Kirby was an inspiration to her and countless other wāhine Māori.
Dame Georgina’s funeral was at Te Māhurehure Marae in Auckland today, with speakers remembering the ground she broke for Māori using her positions on the Māori Women’s Welfare League, Māori Women’s Development Fund, the Māori Artists and Writers Society Ngā Puna Waihanga and many other rōpū.
Ella Henry, whose thesis was on Māori women's leadership, says she first met Dame Georgie in the 1980s when she and her husband Brian provided a base at the Waiatarau community centre in Freemans Bay for a Māori film and television course run by Don Selwyn.
"And I always held her in the highest regard. When she managed to secure the funding, the tiny pot of money that went on to become the Māori Women's Development Incorporation pūtea, the incredible gusto with which she embraced the creative community, and just the kindness and generosity of her, she was always so kind to me and I loved her very, very much," Dr Henry says.
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