Claire Dan AM OBE (1919 or 1920 – 22 October 2012) was a Hungarian-Australian actress and philanthropist, best known for founding the Sydney International Piano Competition in 1977.
She was an actress and cabaret performer, appearing at the National and Vig (Comedy) Theatres in Budapest, both before and after World War II.
While on a one-woman tour of Romania in 1947 she met another Hungarian, Peter Abeles, then a cabaret entrepreneur, and they married.
[4][5] She founded the competition in association with Rex Hobcroft, the then Director of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and with support from the New South Wales Government, then headed by Premier Neville Wran.
SIPCA was managed from Claire Dan's home, "Sundorne", 23 Victoria Rd, Bellevue Hill, Sydney.