Annita van Iersel | |
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Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia | |
In role 20 December 1991 –11 March 1996 | |
Preceded by | Hazel Hawke |
Succeeded by | Janette Howard |
Personal details | |
Born | Anna Johanna Maria van Iersel 5 October 1948 Oisterwijk,North Brabant,Netherlands |
Spouse | Paul Keating (m. 1975,div. 2008) |
Children | 4 |
Alma mater | Australian National School of Arts |
Occupation | Artist |
Anna Johanna Maria "Annita" van Iersel (born 5 October 1948),known as Annita Keating from 1975 to 1998,is a Dutch-born Australian artist and former wife of Paul Keating,former Prime Minister of Australia.
Born in Oisterwijk,North Brabant,Netherlands,she studied languages in Paris and London. She worked at KLM and Alitalia as a flight attendant. [1]
While working with Alitalia,she met Paul Keating,then an aspiring young politician. [2] They married on 17 January 1975. Her parents later joined her in Australia. [3]
While her husband was prime minister (from 1991 to 1996), [4] their four children [4] spent part of their teenage years at The Lodge,the prime minister's official residence in Canberra. Annita was well travelled,and this,along with her knowledge of five languages,proved a valuable diplomatic asset,especially in support of Sydney's bid for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. [5]
In 1998,Annita and Paul Keating separated. They did not formally divorce until 2008,though she had resumed her maiden name of van Iersel long before then. [6] Annita revealed some years after the event,in an interview with her by The Bulletin ,that Keating had broken off the relationship,not she,and had done it at a dinner party with friends. [7]
The same year she and Paul separated,Annita enrolled in a Master of Fine Arts course,majoring in photography,at the Australian National School of Arts in Darlinghurst,Sydney. She graduated in 2001. In March 2008 she was scheduled to exhibit a series of paintings –oils on Belgian linen –that she created in her studio on the Hawkesbury River. [8]
...Annita pursued language studies in Paris and London...