Melbourne bids au revoir to Mirka Mora

The French-born holocaust survivor died on August 27, aged 90, and was on Tuesday remembered by some 1000 mourners at a state memorial service at St Kilda's Palais Theatre as generous, cheeky and full of love.

"Mum, she would have loved it, she always loved the attention and even though she's not here she would have loved this occasion," eldest son and film director Philippe Mora told reporters on the sidelines of Tuesday's event.

Interspersed with the Australian and French national anthems, a rendition of Non Je Ne Regrette Rien and I Say A Little Prayer, Mora's family and Victoria's political and cultural leaders paid tribute.

"She was a bright light that encouraged us all to be a little more open, a little less afraid and a little more Mirka," Premier Daniel Andrews told the service.

"Mirka made Melbourne marvellous," philanthropist and family friend Carrillo Gantner said.

Mora was born in France in 1928 and narrowly escaped being sent to Auschwitz concentration camp during Nazi occupation.

She would sometimes remark how the angels she would paint were the children who were not so lucky.

She married French resistance fighter Georges in 1947 and the couple came to Australia with a then-infant Philippe in 1951.

The pair became pioneers of what the city is now renowned for - its cafes, bars and art - and went on to have two more sons, art dealer William and actor Tiriel.

"Melbourne was in a cultural coma when they arrived, there was nothing happening here," Philippe told reporters.

"My parents woke everything up. I think you see it everywhere, not just in mum's public art but in restaurants."

Mora left her mark on the city not just with the family's food venues, but with art - murals at Flinders Street Station and the St Kilda pier - and a reputation for unashamedly flaunting her body.

"Very naughty, inspiring, extraordinary, you can't put it in a little capsule," son Tiriel said.

Australian Associated Press