Edgar Ortenberg

Edgar Ortenberg (born Eleazar Ortenberg, June 17, 1900 – May 16, 1996) was a violinist in the Budapest String Quartet and taught violin at the Settlement Music School and Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Born Eleazar Ortenberg in Odessa, his teachers included Naoum Blinder at the Odessa Conservatory and Jacques Thibaud in Paris. was drafted into the French army in 1939, but while recovering from sickness in 1941, he and his wife escaped Nazi-controlled France for Portugal and then moved to New York in 1941. There he played for the WQXR Radio Orchestra. His French nationality was withdrawn on 22 December 1941 by Philippe Petain. He accepted a second invitation in 1944 and performed with the group until 1949. He then moved to Philadelphia, where he taught violin at the Settlement Music School until 1985 and served on the faculty at Temple University from 1951 to 1972. He died on May 16, 1996, of cancer at age 95.