A MELBOURNE cemetery has reportedly broken a 100-year-old tradition by allowing a Jewish family to customise the headstone of their relative.
Dr Harvey Cohen, who lives on the NSW north coast, successfully applied for permission from the Necropolis in Springvale to inscribe the tombstone of his wife, physicist Dr Elizabeth Cohen, with a graphic of a satellite image of the Earth.
Traditionally, the headstones at the Necropolis carry a standard design and are bereft of any large graphics or other embellishments.
Dr Elizabeth Cohen, who died in March 2004, was one of the first Aus-tralian women to hold a PhD in physics and devoted her entire life to space science, according to her husband.
"I conceived of her headstone as both being a tribute from her loved ones and a monument celebrating her role in space science," he said.
Designed by Dr Harvey Cohen and his four children, the graphic will be unveiled at Dr Elizabeth Cohen's consecration this Sunday (April 9).
Necropolis CEO Russ Allison said that while "most people work with the standard format", standard symbols such as a Magen David or a menorah are often used.
Although he was not required to seek rabbinic approval, Dr Harvey Cohen gained the support of Progres-sive rabbi Jonathan Keren Black of the Leo Baeck Centre.
Around 20 acres of the 400-acre Necropolis are devoted to Jewish graves. Most Orthodox Jews are buried at the nearby Melbourne Chevra Kadisha Cemtery.
Adass Israel also has its own cemetery. In 2005, Dr Elizabeth Cohen, a pioneer in developing global posi-tioning system technology, was hon-oured with a plaque at Grafton High School, where she graduated in 1955.