Cecile Elstein (née Hoberman) was a South African-born British artist whose career spanned over six decades, encompassing sculpture, printmaking, drawing, and environmental installation. Born in Cape Town in 1938, she moved to England in 1961 with her husband, Max Elstein; later Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Manchester, seeking to leave behind the apartheid regime. After living in London and Southampton during the 1960s and 70s, the couple settled in Manchester in 1977, where Cecile would become an influential and prolific presence in the city’s artistic and cultural life.

Trained at Hornsey College of Art and a studio pupil of Surrealist artist Catherine Yarrow, Elstein was also deeply influenced by philosophical and literary thought, particularly Martin Buber’s I and Thou and Albert Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus. These existential and dialogic frameworks informed both her art and her approach to life. Her works often explored the boundaries between self and other, memory and landscape, ritual and renewal.

Elstein’s practice was materially experimental and intellectually grounded. She collaborated closely with master printmaker Kip Gresham for over three decades, from the Manchester Print Workshop in the 1980s through to his Cambridge studio in 2019. Her prints and sculptures are held in numerous public and private collections in the UK and abroad, including the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Cathedral, the Alsager Gallery in Crewe, and the Pitcairn Gallery in Knutsford. She was a prizewinner at the 9th British International Print Biennale in Bradford and represented Britain at the Singapore Festival of Arts.

Notable public works include Ner Tamid (Everlasting Light) at Menorah Synagogue in Gatley; a bronze portrait of music critic Michael Kennedy at the Royal Northern College of Music; and a collaborative sundial in Marie Louise Gardens, Didsbury (with artist Tam Giles).

Cecile was also an active community facilitator. From 2001 to 2021, she co-led Didsbury Drawing, a weekly life-drawing group guided by the philosophy of non-interference, alongside textile artist Margaret Crowther. A longtime member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society (Lit & Phil), Cecile and Max joined in 1994, with Max later serving as a vice-president.