# Neilma Gantner
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Neilma_Gantner
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Neilma_Gantner.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neilma_Gantner
> Source revision: 1282975549
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{short description|Australian writer and philanthropist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Neilma Gantner
| image = Neilma Gantner c1953.png
| other_names = Neilma Sidney
| birth_name = Neilma Baillieu Myer
| birth_date = {{birth_date|1922|11|07|df=y}}
| birth_place = [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco), California
| death_date = {{death_date_and_age|2015|06|15|1922|11|07|df=y}}
| death_place = [Bermagui](/source/Bermagui%2C_New_South_Wales), New South Wales, Australia
| occupation = Writer and philanthropist
| family = [Sidney Myer](/source/Sidney_Myer) (father) [Merlyn Myer](/source/Merlyn_Myer) (mother)
| children = Vallejo and [Carrillo Gantner](/source/Carrillo_Gantner)
}}
'''Neilma Bailieu Gantner''' (7 November 1922 – 15 June 2015) was an Australian philanthropist and author who wrote as '''Neilma Sidney'''.
== Early life and education ==
Born in [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco), California on 7 November 1922, Neilma Baillieu Myer was the elder daughter of [Merlyn](/source/Merlyn_Myer) (née Baillieu) and [Sidney Myer](/source/Sidney_Myer).[{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Gantner, Neilma|url=http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0431b.htm|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-11-29|website=The Australian Women's Register|language=en-gb}}] The family moved back to [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne), Australia in 1929.[{{Cite web|last=Hall|first=Rodney|date=2015-07-03|title=In the giant footsteps of her father, Myer's daughter worked quietly for a better world|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/in-the-giant-footsteps-of-her-father-myers-daughter-worked-quietly-for-a-better-world-20150703-gi4xgy.html|access-date=2020-11-29|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en}}] In 1952, following her divorce, she studied for a Bachelor of Arts in English literature[{{cite news|date=29 January 1953|title=SHE SAYS WE ARE TOO SLOW|page=9|newspaper=[The Argus (Melbourne)](/source/The_Argus_(Melbourne))|issue=33,200|location=Victoria, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23224718|accessdate=30 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}] and creative writing at [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University).[{{cite news|date=27 February 1952|title=Aussie 'gang' at American university|volume=19|page=17|newspaper=[The Australian Women's Weekly](/source/The_Australian_Women's_Weekly)|issue=39|location=Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44553436|accessdate=30 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}]
== Career ==
Gantner returned to Melbourne with her two sons in 1954.[{{cite news|date=26 March 1955|title=PERSONALITY WELCOME|page=11|newspaper=[The Argus (Melbourne)](/source/The_Argus_(Melbourne))|location=Victoria, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71641283|accessdate=30 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}] In mid-1955 she was responsible for signing up hundreds of subscribers to ''[Meanjin](/source/Meanjin),'' prior to its 15th anniversary.[{{cite news|date=1 October 1955|title=ROUND and ABOUT Double celebration held at University|page=9|newspaper=[The Argus (Melbourne)](/source/The_Argus_(Melbourne))|location=Victoria, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71698933|accessdate=30 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}] In the same year she self-published her first collection of short stories. Twelve more books followed.
Her elder son, Vallejo, aged 19, was killed in a shooting accident. Gantner subsequently was granted permission to build a hut for bushwalkers in his memory. The [Vallejo Gantner Hut](/source/Vallejo_Gantner_Hut) is in the [Alpine National Park](/source/Alpine_National_Park).[{{Cite web|date=2015-06-26|title=OBITUARY: Neilma Gantner, founder of Four Winds Festival|url=https://www.begadistrictnews.com.au/story/3173061/obituary-neilma-gantner-founder-of-four-winds-festival/|access-date=2020-11-29|website=Bega District News|language=en-AU}}]
Gantner was a member of The Myer Foundation and other Myer family philanthropic funds.[{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2015-06-17|title=Vale Mrs Neilma Gantner|url=https://myerfoundation.org.au/news/vale-mrs-neilma-gantner/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-11-29|website=The Myer Foundation|language=en-US}}]
== Works ==
* {{Citation|author1=Sidney, Neilma|title=AB initio but ne illegitimi haec legant|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/157013526|date=1955|publisher=N. Sidney}}
* {{Citation|author1=Sidney|first=Neilma|title=Saturday afternoon and other stories|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10296935|volume=|pages=|date=1959|author-mask=1|publisher=[F. W. Cheshire](/source/Frank_Cheshire)}}
* {{Citation|last1=Sidney|first1=Neilma|title=Beaches|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/19036594|volume=|pages=|date=1964|author-mask=1|publisher=Oxford University Press|last2=Williams|first2=Margaret|author3=Western Australian Teaching and Curriculum Collection}}
* {{Citation|author1=Sidney|first=Neilma|title=Beyond the bay|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10078617|volume=|pages=|date=1966|author-mask=1|edition=1st|publisher=F. W. Cheshire}}
* {{Citation|author1=Sidney|first=Neilma|title=The eye of the needle|volume=|pages=|date=1970|author-mask=1|publisher=Lloyd O'Neil|isbn=978-0-85550-021-4}}
* {{Citation|author1=Sidney|first=Neilma|title=November in India|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/24104822|volume=|pages=|date=1970|author-mask=1|publisher=Community Aid Abroad}}
* {{Citation|author1=Sidney|first=Neilma|title=The return|volume=|pages=|date=1976|author-mask=1|publisher=Thomas Nelson (Australia)|isbn=978-0-17-005082-1}}
* {{Citation|author1=Sidney|first=Neilma|title=Journey to Mourilyan: A coastal pilgrimage|volume=|pages=|date=1986|author-mask=1|publisher=J.M. Dent|isbn=978-0-86770-044-2}}
* {{Citation|author1=Sidney|first=Neilma|title=Sunday evening : stories|volume=|pages=|date=1988|author-mask=1|publisher=McPhee Gribble/Penguin|isbn=978-0-14-011547-5}}
* {{Citation|author1=Sidney|first=Neilma|title=The sweet cool south wind|volume=|pages=|date=1993|author-mask=1|publisher=Barragga Books|isbn=978-0-646-13402-4}}
* {{Citation|author1=Sidney|first=Neilma|title=Isola|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/163988144|volume=|pages=|date=1994|author-mask=1|publisher=N. Sidney}}
* {{Citation|last1=Sidney|first1=Neilma|title=The tale of Henrietta the hen and Pepe, a sea cat|volume=|pages=|date=2009|author-mask=1|publisher=Black Jack Press|isbn=978-0-9806069-1-1|last2=Yi|first2=A. (illustrator)}}
* {{Citation|last1=Sidney|first1=Neilma|title=My travelling life|volume=|pages=|date=2015|author-mask=1|publisher=St Kilda, [Victoria] Oryx Publishing|isbn=978-0-9924865-1-8|last2=Yi|first2=Ann (illustrator)}}
== Legacy ==
Two awards have been established and named in her honour, the Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize[{{Cite web|title=Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize ($6500) {{!}} Overland literary journal|url=https://overland.org.au/prizes/overland-neilma-sidney-short-story-prize/|access-date=2020-11-29|language=en-US}}] and the Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund, supported by The Myer Foundation.[{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2017-06-26|title=Writers Victoria announces $300,000 literary travel fund|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2017/06/26/92140/writers-victoria-announces-300000-literary-travel-fund/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-11-29|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}][{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2020-03-12|title=Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund now open for applications|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2020/03/12/147458/writers-centre-various-australian-states-neilma-sidney-literary-travel-fund-now-open-for-applications/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-11-29|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}]
== Personal ==
At 18 Gantner married Vallejo Gantner, an apparel manufacturer in San Francisco on 8 August 1941 at St John's Church, Toorak. Her younger sister, Marigold Myer (later Lady Southey) was bridesmaid.[{{cite news|date=16 August 1941|title=WEDDINGS OF THE WEEK|volume=CLI|page=34|newspaper=[The Australasian](/source/The_Australasian)|issue=4,833|location=Victoria, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142144622|accessdate=30 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}]
The couple made their home in San Francisco, where Gantner gave birth to two sons, Vallejo junior in 1942 and [Carrillo](/source/Carrillo_Gantner) in 1944. In July 1949 she was granted a divorce from her husband on the grounds of cruelty and, although given physical custody of her sons, was prevented from bringing them to Australia for their education.[{{cite news|date=30 July 1949|title=MRS GANTNER GETS US DIVORCE|page=1|newspaper=[The Argus (Melbourne)](/source/The_Argus_(Melbourne))|issue=32,108|location=Victoria, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22768295|accessdate=30 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}]
Gantner died on 15 June 2015 in [Bermagui](/source/Bermagui%2C_New_South_Wales), New South Wales. She was survived by her son, Carrillo, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.