Berlin stories.

Claudia Dreifus was born in New York in 1944 to Henry and Marianne (Willdorff) Dreifus. She received a degree in dramatic arts from New York University in 1966 and has taught at several universities in New York City. She is also a prolific journalist and writer and has contributed articles to various publications, including New York Times, New York Times Sunday Magazine, Premiere, Town and Country, Atlantic, Entertainment Weekly, Progressive, Reader's Digest, and Glamour.Synopsis in fil

World Science U

Brian Greene discusses his latest project, World Science U, with writer Claudia Dreifus. Brian Greene is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, and is widely recognized for a number of groundbreaking discoveries in superstring theory, including the co-discoveries of mirror symmetry and topology change. His first book for general audiences, The Elegant Universe, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and has sold more than a million copies worldwide. His more recent books, The Fabric of the Cosmos and The Hidden Reality, were both New York Times bestsellers, and inspired the Washington Post to call him "the single best explainer of abstruse concepts in the world today." Greene's latest project, World Science U, brings science education online with innovative digital courses available to anyone with an interest in science. Greene makes frequent media appearances on programs such as Charlie Rose, The Colbert Report and David Letterman. He has hosted two NOVA specials, based on The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos, which were nominated for four Emmy Awards and won a George Foster Peabody Award. Professor Greene is co-director of Columbia's Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics, and with producer Tracy Day, he is co-founder of the World Science Festival. Claudia Dreifus, a journalist and adjunct professor at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, is well known for her interviews in the New York Times with leading figures in world politics and science. Maurice Matiz, CCNMTL's acting executive director, moderates the discussion on World Science U, online learning, and the changing role of the university professor

Marianne Jorjorian Collection circa 1950-1977

This collection contains personal papers of Marianne Jorjorian. The bulk of the collection consists of her writings. These tend to be witty, cutting, and sprinkled with autobiographical details. Her works cover topics such as Greenwich Village and “the American male” in addition to her most prevalent theme, the atrocities of Nazism. Two of the manuscripts, Joan and Renee, are autobiographical novels. There is also a short autobiographical work titled Janne. The largest of Jorjorian’s projects in this collection is a novel she eventually titled The Ballad of the Fat Chiropractor, a semi-fictional retelling of the story of Heinrich Himmler’s physical therapist Felix Kersten.A smaller portion of the collection contains correspondence, poetry, and official papers related to her death in 1977.This collection was donated to the Leo Baeck Institute as part of the Claudia Dreifus Collection (AR 25220), which contains the personal and professional papers of Marianne’s daughter Claudia Dreifus, a writer and freelance journalist.Marianne Jorjorian was born Marianne Willdorff on March 13, 1922, the youngest of three daughters of Benno Willdorf (1881-1943) and Emma (also Emmy) Willdorf née Oppenheimer (born 1884). A middle class merchant family, Benno Willdorf ran a haberdashery store in Berlin while Emma Willdorf ran a millinery business out of their Charlottenburg apartment. In 1939, at the age of 17, Marianne fled Germany for the United States along with her parents. For the first few years, she lived in New York City together with her parents, her sister Inge (later Irene), and Inge’s husband Hans Brenner (later Harold).Around 1942, Marianne Willdorff married another young Jewish refugee from Germany, Henry Dreifus. At this time, Henry Dreifus was an army mechanic and moved frequently between bases. Marianne usually followed him. Their daughter Claudia Dreifus was born in 1944. Marianne’s mother Emma Oppenheimer Willdorff took charge of raising Claudia as Marianne traveled to be with Henry. In the 1950s, Marianne and Henry Dreifus divorced. Henry remarried and brought Claudia to live with him and his wife Beatrice (also Bea). An ardent communist, Henry was involved in local New York City politics.Marianne meanwhile lived in Greenwich Village, as a writer, model, painter, and waitress. In the early 1960s, she suffered a nervous breakdown. She met Aram Jorjorian at the hospital during her recovery and married him in 1963. They moved to Reno, Nevada. In 1964, they were involved in a car accident that left Marianne severely injured. Marianne died in 1977 at age 55, supposedly of a brain hemorrhage. Aram killed himself shortly after Marianne’s death.Finding aid available onlineProcesseddigitize