30th Anniversary Guardians Commemorative Book - Book - Page 184
PRESERVING
HISTORY
Juan Jorge Schäffer
(March 10, 1930–
February 12, 2017)
was a scholar.
He was trained formally as an
engineer (D. Sc. ETH Zürich,
1956) and a mathematician (Ph.D.,
University of Zürich, 1956). From
1968 until his death, Juan was a
professor of mathematics at Carnegie
Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
He spoke at least five languages
fluently. He was knowledgeable and
passionate about history, music, and
art, and he was especially passionate
about the role of museums in
preserving art and archives. Juan
and his wife, Inés Schäffer (née
Kälbermann; December 11, 1935–
September 15, 2008), were members
of the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum from its
founding in 1993 until their deaths.
As Juan sensed in 2016 that his life
was coming to an end, he focused
on the capability of the Museum
to preserve the history, art, and
documents of the Holocaust. Juan
182 l UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM LEGACY OF LIGHT GUARDIANS
specified a bequest, wrote a narrative
about the first third of his life, and
arranged a Museum interview, which
was conducted in November 2016 by
Ina Navazelskis. Juan also met with
the Museum’s Chief Acquisitions
Curator, Judith Cohen, to donate
photos and documents from his
first eight years of life in Vienna,
his time as a refugee in Switzerland
and France, and his schooling
as an immigrant in Uruguay.
The photo on the facing page depicts
an oil painting of Juan as a toddler.
This painting and a companion
painting of his sister, Eva Ruth, who
died in childhood, were among a few
possessions that Juan’s parents, Danny
and Grete, were able to save in their
complicated escape from Europe to
Uruguay. The paintings remained
rolled in a tube for decades. Through
the talents and efforts of the Museum
conservationists, the paintings can
now be viewed, along with Juan’s
other donated documents, in the
Museum’s archives.”
—Dr. Alejandro Schäffer, in memory of
his father, Dr. Juan Jorge Schäffer
