55 Lis SolkhonNames on the buses
Connections with Brighton and Hove :
Lis Solkhon was a Brighton Conservative councillor who was liked and admired by her political friends and even her enemies. When she retired, the ruling Labour group staged a dinner in her honour at which she berated them as usual. While the Tories were in charge, she chaired the finance committee and set the budget. She was also a member of the Sussex University ruling court and council.
She was chairman and president of Brighton Youth Orchestra for many years and was a leading member of the Entertainment Managers' Association when her husband, John, ran the ABC cinema in East Street. Lis Solkhon in her earlier days played the piano to accompany the Brighton-based comedian Max Miller and later joined the appreciation society in his memory. She was also a trained singer who performed in London and many other cities. She made frequent appearances at the Hippodrome in Brighton.
Lis Solkhon chaired the Prince's Trust in East Sussex and helped hundreds of young people in the process. She served on its national committee. She was also president of the National Society for Clean Air which was based in Brighton. While chairing the Gardner Centre for the Arts at Sussex University, she helped save it from financial disaster and probable closure although it did eventually fold many years later. A keen ice skater, she was instrumental in putting forward plans for the proposed new ice arena at Black Rock. She died in 2005.
