Sulzberger, Iphigene Ochs, 1892-1990

Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger (1892-1990) helped shape the history of the New York Times throughout a long and active life. Sulzberger nurtured and bridged the generations of the family that controlled The Times since 1896, when her father, Adolph S. Ochs, acquired it. She played important roles in selecting the succeeding publishers: her husband, Arthur Hays Sulzberger; her son-in-law, Orvil E. Dryfoos, and her son, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 19, 1892, Iphigene Bertha Ochs grew up as the only child of Adolph S. and Iphigenia Wise Ochs. Her father was then proprietor of The Chattanooga Times, a growing Tennessee newspaper. Her mother was the daughter of Isaac Mayer Wise, rabbi of the Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati and founder of American Reform Judaism.

On August 13, 1896, when Iphigene was nearly 4 years old, Adolph Ochs bought the faltering New York Times, and moved the family from Chattanooga to New York City. From that day forward her life was closely intertwined with The New York Times.

Iphigene was educated at home until she was 8, when she began attending Dr. Sachs's School for Girls, which was followed by four years at the Benjamin-Dean School. In 1910 she entered Barnard College.

She met Arthur Hays Sulzberger while attending Barnard. Sulzberger asked her to marry him twice, before she agreed. They were married on November 17, 1917 while he was on a 10-day leave from the Army. After World War I ended, the couple settled in New York, where Mr. Sulzberger joined the staff of The Times.

Iphigene began making a home and raising her children: Marian, born in 1918; Ruth, in 1921; Judith, in 1923, and Arthur Ochs, who was born in 1926.

In 1935, after the death of her father, Mrs. Sulzberger became a trustee of The New York Times Company under his will, along with her husband and cousin Julius Ochs Adler. Arthur Hays Sulzberger was elected president and publisher of The Times. As the publisher's wife, Mrs. Sulzberger shared her husband's concerns and problems but remained steadfastly an offstage figure in the operation of the paper.

Mrs. Sulzberger was a director of the Times Company from 1917 until 1973, when she became a director emeritus. She was among those who voted to alter the company structure fundamentally, granting limited voting rights to the Class A stock and listing it on the American Stock Exchange. At her death she was a trustee of the stock trust established by her father that exercised effective control of the enterprise.

On February 27, 1990, Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger, died of respiratory failure at her home in Stamford, Conn. She was 97 years old.