(Above: Vera Dubin: Pic
supplied)
Keith Millar, who runs the Friends of Music organisation
initially created by Dr Vera Dubin, has made the following announcement:
“We are sad to announce the passing of Dr Vera Dubin on Sunday morning, August 24, 2025.
Vera, who recently celebrated her 100 birthday, was a well-known patron of the arts in Durban.”
Vera was born in 1925 in a small town called Dvinsk in Latvia and came to South Africa with her family when she was one year old.
As a child she was a handful, to say the least. She showed fierce determination and initiative. At the age of seven, she showed her independence of spirit by writing to top South African artist, Hugo Naudé, to ask him if she could sell her classmates a painting for their classroom for the grand sum of £4.46 that she had collected.
That spirit of tenacity stood her in good stead throughout her life. She qualified as a Medical Practitioner specialising in Dermatology. She was a collector of Lalique Glass and enjoyed beadwork, decoupage and painting.
Coming from a highly artistic family, she made a major contribution to the survival of the visual arts and classical music in Durban.
She founded Friends of Music in 1982 when the city had disbanded its orchestra and lovers of classical music were left in the lurch. With sheer dogged determination and commitment, she persuaded funders, donors and sponsors to support her in her endeavour to bring top class soloists and chamber music groups to Durban.
Forty-three years later, the organisation she founded is still providing a platform for the very best of local and international solo and chamber music artists. Thereby providing world class entertainment for the lovers of fine music in Durban.
Some years ago, she started a project called Prelude Performers, which gave young musicians the opportunity to display their skills at the beginning of one of the FOM concerts. This process gave young musicians the opportunity to perform a ten-minute piece on the same stage as the concert’s famed soloist or choir, a highly valued piece for their CV.
Vera Dubin also wrote a book titled “Life on a Floating Island”.
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