A WOMAN OF INFLUENCE
This isn’t going to be about me, is it?” asks Dame Silvia Cartwright, ushering us through the front door of her fourth-floor apartment and into her immaculate sitting room. It’s a stormy winter’s day outside, but the former Governor-General’s Mt Eden home is a sanctuary – perched above the treetops with views stretching out to Rangitoto Island and beyond.
Dame Silvia is speaking to us about her involvement in the Women of Influence Awards, and she’s made it crystal clear that she’d like this article to focus squarely on that. The only problem is, the woman who once described interviews as “torture”, is one of this country’s most interesting people and there’s so much more we want to ask her.
Since graduating from law school in 1967, she’s trailblazed her way through an astonishing career – becoming the first woman to be chief judge of the District Court, first female High Court judge, Governor-General, and international jurist to name just a few of her achievements.
We’ll get to them, but first we must focus on the Women of Influence Awards, of which Dame Silvia is chief judge, and which she says are significant because they seek out and honour the most exceptional women in Aotearoa, many
