Full Name Sonja Wettstein Education Architect | Other names Sonja Batova Nationality Swiss Name Sonja Bata | |
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Born 1926 Zurich, Switzerland Occupation Businesswoman, philanthropist, museum founder Relatives Tomas Bata (father-in-law) | ||
Sonja bata am familief scht im bata park 1 august 2012
Sonja I. Bata (or Sonja Baťová; née Wettstein) (born 1926, Zurich) is a Swiss business woman, philanthropist, and museum founder, who trained as an architect.
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Biography
After her marriage to Thomas J. Bata of Bata Shoes, she left her architecture studies, and moved to Toronto in 1946, befriending those in the architecture community: Raymond Moriyama designed the Bata Shoe Museum while John Cresswell Parkin designed the Don Mills headquarters of Bata Shoes and the family's country house in Batawa.
Though she had earlier envisioned herself to become a great architect, she set her designs on improving the Bata Shoe company. Also in the 1940s, she began collecting shoes and studying their history. In 1979, she endowed the Bata Shoe Museum Foundation. The Bata Shoe Museum, established in 1995, is the world's largest shoe museum, and the core collection is attributed to Bata. She is the museum's chairperson.
Bata was also the chair of the National Design Council (1970s). She helped establish the Toronto French School, served as director the Art Gallery of Ontario, sat on the boards of Alcan and Canada Trustco, affiliated with the World Wildlife Fund, and became an Honorary Captain in the RCN and sponsor of HMCS Ottawa.
Personal life
There are four children, Thomas George (born 1948), Christine (born 1953), Monica (born 1955), and Rosemarie (born 1960). Her father-in-law is Tomáš Baťa, the founder of Bata Shoes.