Strauss, Eduard, 1876-1952

Born in Kreuznach on February 18, 1876, Eduard Strauss was a chemist and philosopher. His parents were Heinrich Strauss and Viktoria Strauss (née Nathan). At the age of 16 Eduard Strauss moved to Frankfurt/Main where he obtained his university-entrance diploma in 1895. He studied chemistry, physics and botany at the universities of Bonn, Munich and Berlin. After receiving his doctorate in chemistry at the University of Berlin in 1899, he worked in Munich with Karl A. Hofmann (who discovered radioactive lead in 1900) and others. He also continued his studies and took classes in medicine. He passed a public examination as a nutritional chemist and became assistant to Professor Hilger at the Institute of Applied Chemistry in Munich. In 1905, he returned to Berlin, but soon moved to Frankfurt/Main, where he married Beatrice Rosenberg in 1907. They had two children, Elizabeth (born 1908?) and Carola (born 1913). In Frankfurt he worked in several clinical institutions as a chemist.

His professional career was interrupted by his service in World War I. From the beginnings in 1920 to the early end in 1938, Eduard Strauss taught at the Freies Juedisches Lehrhaus in Frankfurt/Main, which was established by Franz Rosenzweig in 1920. Eduard Strauss was member of the directorate and as an institution for adult education and beyond, his weekly lectures on the Holy Scripture were highly appreciated.

In the year 1935, Eduard Strauss's research was suspended when he was dismissed due to the racial laws from the Georg-Speyer-Haus, a chemotherapeutical institute. He continued performing his duties in the Jewish congregation, which consisted mostly of writing articles for their newspaper, and stayed in Frankfurt am Main until 1938. In June of this year, he immigrated with his family to Italy. In December, he had to leave Italy and immigrated to the United States via Havana, Cuba, which was facilitated by the fact that his wife was an American citizen. Eduard Strauss obtained American citizenship in 1943.

Upon his arrival in New York he immediately started working at Beth David Hospital. Later he worked at the Coster Research Laboratories, at Crown Heights Hospital and the Chemistry Department of New York University.

Eduard Strauss was well known especially in the Jewish communities of Frankfurt and later New York for his dedication to teaching Jews and non-Jews in philosophical, biblical, theological and Jewish questions. He was an active member of the Jewish congregation of Frankfurt and later of the Jewish congregation Habonim of New York. He helped establishing a new " Lehrhaus " in New York, which was founded as Lehrhaus Franz Rosenzweig in 1939.

Besides his teaching activities, Eduard Strauss wrote many newspaper articles, some for the Frankfurter Zeitung, but mostly for Jewish papers like the Frankfurter Israelitisches Gemeindeblatt, the Morgen, and later in New York for the Aufbau and the Bulletin Habonim . Most of his articles consist of written forms of his lectures, for example in Martin Buber's monthly Der Jude . He also published scientific works as a chemist.

Eduard Strauss died in New York City on August 23, 1952.

From the guide to the Eduard Strauss Collection, 1854-1988, bulk 1891-1952, (Leo Baeck Institute)