Henry Jacques Ninio

Henry Jacques Ninio (27 October 1935 – 22 September 2023) was an Egyptian-born Australian pharmacist, entrepreneur and politician who served as the 75th Lord Mayor of the City of Adelaide, South Australia.



Ninio was born in Cairo into a Sephardic Jewish family who had migrated from Izmir, Turkey. He attended Cairo University before migrating with his family to Adelaide in 1956, graduating as a Pharmacist in 1960. He established the Piaf Perfumery chain and Simes Australia with his business partner Alex Siros.

Ninio was a member of the French Perfume Association of Australia and the Australian Society of Perfumers and Flavourists and an avid collector of antique perfume bottles.

He served as councillor in Gray ward on the Adelaide City Council and then Alderman before being elected Lord Mayor in 1993. He also served as the president of Beit Shalom Synagogue in 1983.

The French Government has honoured him for his services to perfumery and the French community of Australia. He was survived by his wife Lynette, 3 children and 6 grandchildren.

His daughter, Jacqueline, became a rabbi at the Emanuel Synagogue in Sydney.