DE LISSA, LILLIAN DAPHNE (1885-1967), educator, was born on 25 October 1885 at
Darlinghurst, Sydney, daughter of Montague de Lissa, merchant, and his wife Julia,
née Joseph; they were Jewish. She was educated at Riviere College, Woollahra.
Musically gifted, she became an accomplished pianist but, on seeing the
transformation of slum children by the Woolloomooloo free kindergarten, she
dedicated herself to the education of young children. In 1902 she entered the
Kindergarten College, Sydney, and was influenced by the principal Frances Newton
who had trained in Chicago. De Lissa graduated brilliantly and in 1904-05 was a
kindergarten director; she then took a course in training teachers. In 1905 she
accompanied Newton to Adelaide at the expense of Rev. Bertram Hawker, a
philanthropist, to demonstrate kindergarten methods; their work led to the
formation of the Kindergarten Union of South Australia.
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Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
Lillian de Lissa was the director of the first Adelaide free kindergarten in Franklin Street. In 1917 she became foundation principal of Gipsy Hill College in Surrey. She was also a founder of the Nursery School Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
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Australian Women's Register