Smorgon was born in 1913 in Heidelberg, a German settlement in Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. His father, Naum (Norman) Smorgon, ran a kosher butcher shop until the business was nationalized in 1927, with the Smorgon family emigrating to Australia later that year.
The success of Victor"s meat importing business saw the entire family become involved in the company, and soon Smorgon Consolidated Industries expanded its business to cover plastics, glass, steel and recycling. By 1995, the collective worth of Smorgon Consolidated Industries" interests in steel, paper, plastics, packaging and property had been estimated at between A$1.2 billion and $1.5 billion. In February of that year, the Smorgon family decided to divest the company (with the exception of the Smorgon Steel Group, Australia"s second-largest steel producer, which was floated publicly).
The proceeds of the Service Civil International sale were distributed among the seven branches of the Smorgon family in Australia, and re-invested or used to purchase new holdings under the umbrella of the Victor Smorgon Group.
Victor Smorgon was appinted an Officer of the Order of Australia (Association for the Study of Internal Fixation) in 1990 for service to art as a benefactor. Smorgon was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (Air Corps) in 2007 for service to the community as a benefactor and supporter of a wide range of organisations, particularly in the areas of art, education and medicine.
