Jessie Street
Jessie Street | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jessie Mary Grey Lillingston 18 April 1889 |
| Died | 2 July 1970 (aged 81) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Monuments | Jessie Street Gardens, Jessie Street National Women's Library |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney (BA, 1911) |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Spouse | Sir Kenneth Whistler Street |
| Children | Sir Laurence Whistler Street |
| Relatives | Edward Ogilvie (grandfather) Street family Sir Philip Whistler Street (father-in-law) |
Jessie Mary Grey Street (née Lillingston; 18 April 1889 – 2 July 1970) was an Australian diplomat, suffragette, and a campaigner for Indigenous Australian rights. She was referred to as "Red Jessie" by the Australian media, due to her support for the Soviet Union through World War II and the Cold War, as she organised the "Sheepskins for Russia" campaign during World War II, and she was notably one of two Australians to attend Stalin's funeral.
As Australia's only female delegate to the founding of the United Nations in 1945, Jessie served as the first Vice President of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and she played a central role in ensuring the inclusion of sex as a non-discrimination clause in the United Nations Charter. She was Lady Street from 1956, with the elevation of her husband Lieutenant Colonel Sir Kenneth Whistler Street.