Finding aid for the Odette V. and Paul Wurzburger Family Photographs

Biography of the Odette V. and Paul Worzburger Family

Odette Valabregue Wurzburger was a French resistance fighter during World War II, a lawyer and teacher, and an active community leader, especially in the arts. She was born in Avignon, France, in 1909, and she died in Cleveland in 2006. Her husband, Paul Wurzburger was an entrepreneur, inventor, patron of the arts, and honorary consul of France. He was born in 1904 in Lyon, France, and died in 1974 in Cleveland. He entered the United States in 1941 and became a citizen in 1946. He became honorary consul of France in Cleveland in 1962. Paul's father, Hugo Wurzburger, was born in 1887 in Heilbronn, Germany, and died in Cleveland in 1952. Paul's mother, Marguerite Bacharach Wurzburger, was born in Lyon, France, in 1882 and died in Cleveland in 1967. The couple escaped Nazi-occupied France in 1941 and went first to Cuba, arriving in the United States in August 1942. Hugo Wurzburger was a successful industrialist and inventor. He invented several synthetic fabrics and also manufactured pipe fittings, the patents for which were licensed to Cleveland's Weatherhead Company before World War II.

Paul's first wife, Margarethe (later Marguerite) Wolf (1900-1976), was born in Germany and died in Cleveland. The couple lived in Liechtenstein in the early 1930s and came to the United States in 1941, where he continued his father's association with the Weatherhead Company. With degrees from universities in Strasbourg and Frankfort, Paul Wurzburger held patents for various valves in the United States, Canada, Germany, Holland, Great Britain, Australia, Japan, France, Sweden, Italy and Belgium. Throughout his career as an engineer, he was associated with three different firms: Ermeto, Flomet, and Patex. Among other activities, Paul Wurzburger was a trustee for the Salk Institute of Biological Studies and the Musical Arts Association. He was Vice-President of the Federation of French Alliances in the United States for the Central States and chairman of the board of Maison Francaise de Cleveland. He was also on the Case Western Reserve University Board of Overseers and a commander in the French Legion d'honneur. Odette Valabregue earned a law degree from the University of Montpellier in 1930 and was a judge in France prior to the German occupation. As part of her legal career in pre-war France, she was a strong advocate of social services for children. From 1943 to 1945 she was a volunteer in the French underground, saving the lives of many Jews, including her own parents. Her pseudonym during her work with the French resistance was Anne-Marie; under this name, she published a brief account of her experiences during and immediately after the war. This account appeared in French in 1945, as a chapter in a book edited by Suzanne Normand, Liberte Ship (Paris: Editions NAGEL, 1945).

Odette Valabregue came to the United States in 1960 when she married Paul Wurzburger, after his divorce from Marguerite (Wolf) Wurzburger. Odette Wurzburger continued her professional activities in Cleveland and became an active member of the community. A member of the American Bar Association, she taught classes for the Case Western Reserve University School of Law and was an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego. She spoke often on law and biology and the human genome. Her interests in music and art led to significant achievements, especially her idea for an international piano competition, eventually known as the Cleveland International Piano Competition. She was on the boards of the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Museum of Art and actively involved in fostering Franco-American relations through her work with the Maison Francaise and the Cleveland Council of World Affairs. She was a member of Suburban Temple-Kol Ami and a generous donor to the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland.

Scope and Content

The Odette V. and Paul Wurzburger Family Photographs, 1944-1974 and undated, consist of approximately 150 black and white photographs and 50 color photographs.

This collection is of value to researchers seeking visual resources on different topics: immigration from France and Germany, the participation of Clevelanders in World War II, the French resistance, French cultural activities in Cleveland, the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and mechanical engineering, especially hydraulics. Those interested in the history of the Jewish community in Cleveland will find this collection useful. Of special interest are the travel documents of Hugo and Marguerite Wurzburger from Cuba and copies of Odette Wurzburger's memoir of her experiences during the war, in the original French and an unattributed English translation. Most of the materials in the collection concern the professional activities of Paul Wurzburger. Those interested in engineering will want to consult the brief memoirs of Alden H. Milbrodt, an engineer who worked closely with Paul Wurzburger and the Weatherhead Company who sent his reminiscences to Odette Wurzburger after her husband's death. This collection includes an image of the Wurzburgers with Salvador Dali.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

The researcher should also consult MS 5070 Odette V. and Paul Worzburger Family Papers; MS 3911 Maison Francaise de Cleveland Records; and PG 260 Maison Francaise de Cleveland Photographs.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] PG 555 Odette V. and Paul Wurzburger Family Photographs, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gift of Thelma Rivin in 2008.

Processing Information

Processed by Arthur Diamond and Sean Martin in 2011.

Detailed Description of The Collection