Straus, Ida (c. 1849–1912)
Straus, Ida (c. 1849–1912)
American philanthropist. Born Ida Blun around 1849; died on April 15, 1912; married Isidor Straus; children: six, including Jesse Isidor Straus (b. 1872, an ambassador), Percy Selden Straus (b. 1876), and Nathan Straus.
Ida and Isidor Straus were both well-known philanthropists who owned Macy's department store. They also shared a close marriage. "When they were apart, they wrote to each other every day," said Joan Adler , director of the Straus Historical Society. The Strauses were on the Titanic on the ill-fated night of April 15, 1912. As the ship foundered, Ida Straus, who refused to get into a lifeboat, urged her maid to take her place and handed the young woman her fur coat, saying, "I won't need this anymore." The Strauses were last seen in an embrace as the Titanic went down. Inscribed on their vault in a Bronx cemetery are the words: "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it."
related media:
Titanic (film), starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di-Caprio, directed by James Cameron, with Lew Palter and Elsa Raven portraying the Strauses, 1998.