Smorgon Steel founder dies aged 96

Archiv – Australian businessman Victor Smorgon, former head of the Victor Smorgon Group, has passed away at the age of 96. The group is a spin-off from the original Smorgon Consolidated Industries which began as a kosher butcher shop in Carlton, Australia, and expanded into areas ranging from meat exporting to plastics, glass, steel and recycling.Australia | Australian businessman Victor Smorgon, former head of the Victor Smorgon Group, has passed away at the age of 96. The group is a spin-off from the original Smorgon Consolidated Industries which began as a kosher butcher shop in Carlton, Australia, and expanded into areas ranging from meat exporting to plastics, glass, steel and recycling.
Born into poverty in Heidelberg in the Ukraine just before the First World War, Mr Smorgon emigrated to Australia in 1927. When asked to explain his success, he famously said: ’If you can make sausages, you can make anything.’ As the business empire grew – with the Smorgons eventually becoming Australia’s wealthiest family – so too did the family’s reputation for philanthropy. Beneficiaries included the National Galleries of Australia and Victoria, the Victorian Arts Centre and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, as well as many Jewish causes ranging from the United Israel Appeal to Jewish Care and Melbourne’s Jewish schools.
Mr Smorgon is survived by his wife Loti Kiffer, three daughters and 15 grandchildren.