From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wife of Oscar Straus
Sarah Lavanburg Straus
(
nee
Lavanburg
; 1861 ? November 9, 1945) was an American philanthropist and wife of diplomat
Oscar Straus
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Born Sarah Lavanburg to a
Jewish
family in 1861 in
New York City
, the daughter of Hannah (nee Seller) and Louis Lavanburg.
[1]
Her father was an investment banker.
[1]
She had one brother, merchant Frederick Lavanburg.
[1]
She was educated in private schools.
[1]
On April 19, 1882, she married Bavarian-immigrant and American diplomat
Oscar Straus
.
[1]
From 1887 to 1889, she lived in
Istanbul
where her husband served as ambassador and she became acquainted with
German-Jewish
industrialist Baron
Maurice de Hirsch
and Baroness
Clara de Hirsch
.
[1]
In 1891, the Strausses persuaded Baron Hirsch to establish the Baron de Hirsch Fund which focused on aiding Jewish immigrants relocating from Russia; and the
Clara de Hirsch Home for Working Girls
. Straus was appointed the first president of the Clara De Hirsch Home for Working Girls where she served until her death.
[1]
In 1915, the Immigrant Home's operation was taken over by Straus and her brother, and renamed the Hannah Lavanburg Home in honor of their mother.
[1]
In 1926, her husband died.
[1]
In 1929, she financed and participated in a four-month expedition to central Africa for the
American Museum of Natural History
to obtain birds from
Uganda
,
Kenya
, and
Nyasaland
(now
Malawi
).
[1]
In 1934, she financed and participated in an eight-month expedition to West Africa for the
Field Museum of Natural History
to collect bird specimens in
Senegal
,
French Sudan
, and
Niger
territory.
[1]
Straus served on the board of the Fred L. Lavanburg Foundation.
[1]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Straus had three children with her husband: Mildred Straus Schafer (born 1883), Aline Straus Hockstader (born 1889), and
Roger Williams Straus
(1891?1957, married to
Gladys Eleanor Guggenheim
).
[1]
[2]
[3]
Strauss died on November 9, 1945, at her home in New York City.
[1]
She was a member of
Temple Emanu-El
in Manhattan.
[1]
Her grandson is
Roger Williams Straus Jr.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]