| Annita van Iersel | |
|---|---|
| Spouse of the 24th Prime Minister of Australia |
|
| In office 20 December 1991 – 11 March 1996 |
|
| Preceded by | Hazel Hawke |
| Succeeded by | Janette Howard |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 October 1948 Netherlands |
| Spouse(s) | Paul Keating |
| Children | Four |
| Alma mater | Australian National School of Arts |
| Occupation | Artist |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Annita Keating van Iersel (born 5 October 1948) is the estranged Dutch-born wife of Paul Keating, the former Prime Minister of Australia.
Born as Anna Johanna Maria van Iersel to a devout Roman Catholic family in Oisterwijk, Noord Brabant, Netherlands, she studied languages in Paris and London. She worked at KLM as a flight attendant. While working with Alitalia, she met Keating, then an aspiring young politician.[1] They married on 17 January 1975. Her parents later joined her in Australia.
While her husband was Prime Minister (from 1991 to 1996),[2] their four children[2] spent part of their teenage years at The Lodge, the Prime Minister's official residence in Canberra.
van Iersel was widely 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.[3]
In 1998, Annita and Paul Keating separated. That same year she 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, and has since forged her own artistic career. 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.[4]