Zeitlhofer, Fredericke

Edith Neumann was born Editha Spitzer in Vienna on May 26, 1902, the youngest child of the lawyer and art collector Alfred Spitzer and his wife Hermine. She had an elder sister named Hanna (Hansi). Her father invested in the work of artists such as Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka.

Edith Spitzer studied chemistry and physics at the University of Vienna and received her doctorate in 1927; at that time she was the only woman studying such subjects there. Alfred Spitzer died in the spring of 1923. In 1924 she converted to Christianity, and in May 1925 became engaged to Friedrich (often referred to by Austrian friends and family as Fritz) Neumann, who was also a Christian convert. They met at a meeting of the Swedish Society for the Conversion of Jews to Christianity. Two years later, upon completing her doctorate, the couple was married on October 3, 1927.

Frederick Neumann was a student of the philosopher Martin Heidegger. Edith supported him while Friedrich Neumann continued his studies, eventually gaining a reputation as a biblical scholar. In 1934 Friedrich went to Zagreb, Yugoslavia, where he worked as a missionary, and was later joined by Edith. Two years later they returned to Vienna. In 1938 the couple, fearing the arrest of Friedrich Neumann, fled Vienna via the Danube, travelling for a month through Zagreb, northern Italy, and Paris before finally arriving in London with the help of the British Society. There they studied English until the Society offered Friedrich Neumann missionary work in Haifa, Palestine.

In 1948 the Neumanns immigrated to the United States, where they settled in New York. Edith Neumann had lost thirty-four family members due to Nazi persecution. She was able to bring a portion of her father's art collection to the U.S. Friedrich, now Frederick (often referred to by American friends as Fred) Neumann became the pastor of the Bushwick Congregational Church in Brooklyn, a position he held until his death. Edith Neumann worked as a bacteriologist at the Jewish Hospital in Brooklyn, before accepting a position as microbiologist at Maimonides Hospital, where she remained for the next 20 years.

After the death of Frederick Neumann in 1967, Edith Neumann moved to Manhattan and took a job as medical director of the Jetti Katz Clinical Laboratory. In 1982 she retired at the age of eighty, working on publishing her husband's sermons and having them translated into English. In 1983 she established the Frederick Neumann Memorial Lecture at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Edith Neumann donated several paintings from her father's collection to the Osterreichische Galerie and two more paintings by Kokoschka and Schiele to the Graphische Sammlung Albertina. In honor of her donations and work as a scientist, she was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art First Class in 1998. The rest of the artwork that Edith Neumann inherited from her father was donated to Bard College. Edith Neumann died on June 29, 2002 one hundred years old.

From the guide to the Edith Neumann Estate Collection, 1879-2002, bulk 1938-1988, (Leo Baeck Institute)