Simon Rieff (1894–1962) was one of the first miners to open up The Granites goldfield in the Northern Territory of Australia before moving to Alice Springs to become a property developer and business man.
[1] Rieff was a Cossack who came from Tbilsi (Georgia), when it was part of Russia and he left during the 1917 Russian Revolution and made his way to Australia.
Rieff spent some time at Hatches Creek and built a large home there for Dorothy, his Australian born wife, and their six children.
[2] In 1927 Rieff was guide to Cecil Madigan and Sir Douglas Mawson who were inspecting nitrate deposits in the West MacDonnell Ranges where Aboriginal people had reported the soft, white, crystalline substance which burned readily.
Rieff is also the father of Herbie Laughton, now a famous country music singer, who he never acknowledged; at least not in an official capacity.