Deutsch-Edel Family Collection

Georg Deutsch (1901 – 1982) was born in Vienna to Alice Deutsch née Spieler (1872-1932) and Gustav Deutsch (1869-1911). Gustav Deutsch was an engineer. Georg also had an older sister, Maria Glas nee Deutsch (1897-1983).

In the 1920s Georg studied medicine at the University of Vienna, where he graduated as a physician for gynecology and obstetrics. He worked at a number of clinics and hospitals before starting in private practice. In 1929 he married Sabina Edel (1902-1992). She had also attended the University of Vienna, where she studied the natural sciences (biology, zoology) as well as education. After completing her studies, she worked as a teacher. The couple had two children, Thomas (1932-2006) and Elizabeth (born 1937). The couple attended cultural events, enjoyed hiking summers in the Alps, and had successful careers. Georg became interested in anthroposophy, and the couple identified politically as socialists. They were not religious. Both had been baptized by their parents to Christianity, and they had their children baptized as well.

In 1938, Georg, Sabina and their children fled first to Paris, and then to the United States. George’s sister, Maria Glas, meanwhile escaped with her family to England. Sabina’s mother, Liba Edel, was unable to escape Vienna despite attempts by the family and was murdered in the Kovno Ghetto in November 1941. Georg and Sabina settled in Shaker Heights, Cleveland, Ohio. Beginning as a substitute teacher, Sabina taught at the Shaker Heights High School for nearly 30 years. Despite her education in biology and zoology, she ended-up teaching German, French, and Latin. After retiring, she spent time traveling to Europe and maintained an interest in French culture.

Georg Deutsch (who anglicized his name to George) also had to start his career over again as a physician, attending university in the United States. He then worked as a physician until his own retirement in Shaker Heights.

Thomas Deutsch received a degree in physics at Cornell University in 1955, followed by a master’s degree from Harvard in 1956 and a doctorate in 1961. He worked as a physics engineer beginning in 1960, becoming a senior scientist with Raytheon. From 1974 to 1984 he was at the Lincoln Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), then at the Wellman Laboratory of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Beginning in 1987, he was also an Associate Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School, teaching and exploring medical laser applications for dermatology.

Elizabeth Deutsch married Clifford Earle in 1960. The couple had two children. Elizabeth attended Swarthmore College, followed by Radcliffe College from where she graduated in 1960. She then became a Doctor of Philosophy at Harvard University in 1964. She became a professor of plant breeding, following her mother’s interest in botany, at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. From 1983 to 1989 she worked at Cornell as Director of the Plant Tissue Culture Facility.