Shimon Schwarzschild
German-born American environmental activist (1925–2021)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shimon Schwarzschild (19 December 1925 – 10 November 2021) was a German-born American environmental activist. His work contributed to the establishment of a nature preserve in Assisi, Italy.[1][2] Schwarzschild founded the Assisi Bird Campaign[2] and helped organize the Assisi Nature Council.[3] He was also active on many other environmental and neighborhood issues.[4]
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Shimon Schwarzschild | |
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| Born | 19 December 1925 |
| Died | 10 November 2021 (aged 95) New York, U.S. |
| Other name | Bert Schwarzschild |
| Website | http://www.shimonschwarzschild.com |
Schwarzschild's activism received news coverage regionally,[5] nationally,[1] and internationally.[6] He was listed in the World Who's Who and Does What in Environment & Conservation.[7]
Publications and works
Schwarzschild's publications include a 1983 article in Audubon Magazine that first called international attention to the destruction of the birds of Assisi by hunting.[8]
In 2020, Schwarzschild was finishing a film project called "Transcending Terror" about his relationship with the German town in which he grew up, Wertheim.[9] He described the film as a documentary on "Loss, Opportunity and Redemption".[9] The film is being made with the assistance of Schwarzschild's grand-nephew Benjamin Schwarzschild, who stated that the film will include many scenes of Laudenbach, where Shimon's mother was born.[10] As of April 2020, the film was expected to be completed in May 2020,[11] and to premier in the county museum in autumn 2020.[9]
Personal life
Schwarzschild was born on 19 December 1925, in Wertheim, Germany.[7] Schwarzschild's mother, Rosalia Birk, daughter of Moses and Ida Birk, was born in Laudenbach, Germany.[10] He obtained a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (1950).[7]
In 2004 in New York City, Schwarzschild married Naomi Schechter.[12]
In 2010, and at several other times in later years, Schwarzschild visited his birthplace, Wertheim.[7][13]
In 2019, at the age of 93, Schwarzschild and his wife visited his mother's birthplace Laudenbach, where he was hosted by Anja Baier, the third mayor of Karlstadt, a town that now encompasses Laudenbach, and two members of a synagogue that Schwarzschild attended as a child.[10]
He died in New York on 10 November 2021, at the age of 95.[14]