The Wellington Café Legend, Suzi van der Kvast, has died for 80 years

The Dutch migrant who probably burned Wellington's coffee scene died.

Suzi van der Kvast, from Suzi's Coffee Lounge, died on Thursday of 80 years of lung cancer.

From Wellington's early cafe houses, Suzy, who opened her husband Toma in 1964, is probably the one that had collapsed in history, mostly because of Van Der Kvast's personality.

The glamorous blonde, vocally, loudly loudly recruited his staff over the sound of music he played from his own recorder.

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Suzi's Coffee Lounge

Even when the café seemed full, Van der Kvast would invite potential buyers inside, ensuring they had enough space.

Then it would require existing customers to come together in order to create more space.

Her son Bart van der Kvast has estimated that she has not accidentally died 11 months after her husband's death: "They say it's true love if a partner goes through the year."

Susie van der Kvast grew up in the rural Netherlands due to World War II, and one of her first jobs was to take potatoes into a Jewish family hiding in a field near the house. She was chosen because only five years thought it was less likely to be questioned by German soldiers.

She first tried chocolate when she gave her the liberation of Canadian soldiers when she was seven years old. She had eaten so much, she was violently ill and had not touched her for decades.

But the postwar Netherlands was a dark place and the bait of a new beginning on the other side of the world attracted to New Zealand, said her son.

Although Suzy was not the first Vellington institution to sell real coffee, in many respects, she became the first institution to be known – an institution known for a donut that "set the culture's culture to follow".

At a time when people in Wellington were known for dark gray clothes, Van der Kvast was dressed in bright and fashionable styles.

"[She was] daily performance of performances. "

Geoff Marsland, co-founder of Midnight Espresso and Havana Coffee Vaux, described Van der Kvast as "an indignation of hospitality".

"She served warmth, intelligence, generosity and was incredibly working, I will never forget her strong endeavor," he said.

Susette Goldsmith went to write a book about eight years ago on cafes, but she finally wrote Suzie's.

"She had such a fantastic story," Goldsmith said in 2010.

"There is an element of her existence as a European immigrant, and some tragedy in her life – her mother died young and her father when Suzy was in the early twenties.

"It's also so important for a coffee story. So many people visited her coffee shop."

Suzie, like Wellington's colleague French Maid, became famous for her artistic and intellectual atmosphere, with poetic readings and thoughts held by the court.

A café shop in Vjetrenjica on the Cambridge Terrace has already been successful.

Suzi, at Villis Street, where the Majestic Center now stands, was a step forward.

The interior was designed by modernist architect Fritz Eisenhofer, born in Austria, and was known for his modernity. Suzy soon became known as the passage for celebrities in Wellington, such as artist Rita Angus.