Name

Lisl Steiner

Other names

Lipstein, Alice.

Culture

Australian | Austrian

Gender

Female

Birth date

1907

Birth place

Vienna, Austria View on map Close map

Death date

2002

Death Place

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia View on map Close map

Movements

Australia from late 1952

Occupations

Antique dealer | Fashion artist

Summary

Worked: Austria

Context

Australia

Web

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ian-will-j/59976508…

Website

Biography

Lisl Steiner, (Alice Lipstein), a non-practicing Jew, had worked in the fashion industry in Vienna. (She featured in an American film after liberation) Her husband, Oskar Steiner, a chef, escaped Austria travelling to Singapore, where he was held as a prisoner of war. Returning to Europe he arrived in Australia in September 1951. Lisl travelled to Australia as a displaced person arriving in 1952 and they married in Melbourne that year. Initially she worked in the clothing industry and later she and Oskar ran a milk bar in Macfarlen Street, South Yarra. Eventually they established an antique shop, but Oskar died in 1962. Lisl briefly returned to Austria but could not accept its conservative attitudes. Returning to Melbourne she continued to run her antique shop at the Toorak Road end of Chapel Street. She specialised in 'Individual antiques" painted European furniture, Biedermeier furniture, Oriental rugs and decorative items.

Last Updated

14 Jan 2026