Gordin Dora (8 June 1895, Libau – 29 December 1991, United Kingdom) — artist and sculptor.
Dora Gordin was born in Libau to Mark (Mordukh) Gordin (d. 1921) and Emma (née Shepshelevich). She had three elder siblings: brothers Nikolai (1 May 1886 – October 1941, shot by the SS in Tallinn) and Leopold (11 June 1893 – 1979), and sister Anna (11 January 1892 – 1941, deported to Novosibirsk by the NKVD, where she died).
In 1912–13, the family moved to Revel (Tallinn). In 1915–16, she likely studied sculpture at the National School of Applied Arts and Crafts. One of her early sculptures was exhibited in 1917 at the Tallinn Cinema on Viru Street. In 1920, Gordin presented a bronze head at the ARS group exhibition at the Tallinn Municipal Museum.
In 1924, Dora Gordin relocated to Paris to further her studies in sculpture. In 1925, she worked as an artist for the British Pavilion at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, and from then on regularly exhibited in Parisian salons. In 1928, having settled permanently in Paris, she exhibited seventeen bronze sculptures in London to critical and commercial success. Around 1929–30, famed French architect Auguste Perret designed her residence in Paris.
In January 1930, Gordin moved to Singapore before settling in Johor Bahru, the capital of the Malay state of Johor. Later that year, she married Dr George Herbert Garlick (1886–1958). Returning to Paris in 1932, she moved again to Johor in 1933. In 1935, she initiated divorce proceedings in London. That same year, Richard Hare purchased land in Kingston Hill to build what became “Doric House”—now the Dora Gordin Museum. On 2 November 1936, Gordin’s divorce from Dr Garlick was finalised, and she married Hare on 6 November 1936. In April 1938, she was elected an associate member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
During the Second World War, she turned to teaching and appeared on both radio and television. Gordin’s final solo exhibition took place in London in 1949, after which she continued to participate in group shows in the UK and abroad until her death. In February 2004, her former home was officially designated the Dora Gordin Museum.
Family
Mark (Mordukh) Gordin (d. 1921) — father
Emma Gordin (née Shepshelevich) — mother
Nikolai Gordin (1886–1941) — brother
Leopold Gordin (1893–1979) — brother
Anna Gordin (1892–1941) — sister