Elisabeth Burger

Childhood and family life

Burger was born in 1923 to Frieda S. Miller, a noted labor rights activist. Born Elisabeth Miller, Burger was raised by Miller and her partner, Pauline Newman. Newman and Miller's relationship had been romantic in nature for several years, however in 1923 Miller participated in an affair with labor mediator Charles Kutz that resulted in her pregnancy with Elisabeth. Upon the revelation that Miller was pregnant, Miller and Newman left several months early for the 1923 International Congress of Working Women in Vienna and told the public that they had done so to adopt a European orphan. Beginning in 1944, she worked for the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. She was a research assistant, and did research and editorial work on the topic of women and young workers, vocational education, and manpower. From 1951 to 1956, Elisabeth was a member of the East Manhattan Branch of the League of Women Voters, working on their economic program, and she was active in the Parents' Associations of her sons' schools. She also served on the Independent Schools Committee of the Public Education Association, and took some classes towards a master's degree in education at Columbia University in the late 1950s. In 1969, Owen became the General Secretary of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and was knighted that same year. Elisabeth briefly became Lady Owen, and Sir Arthur David Kemp Owen died in 1970.

Elisabeth was remarried in 1971 to Chester Burger, the owner of a management consulting firm specializing in public relations. Chester Burger was also the vice president and trustee of the National Urban League Development Foundation. Elisabeth worked as a consultant to various organizations on the state, national, and international level, including the Council on Foreign Relations. She served on the board of directors for Planned Parenthood in New York, and participated in the United Nations Secretariat for the International Women's Year in 1975. She was also an active member of the Cosmopolitan Club. Chester Burger died in March, 2011.

Death and legacy Burger died on December 22, 2013. At the time of her death, she had ten grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren, as well as many step children, step-grandchildren, and step-great-grandchildren. Her papers were donated to Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study by her son Michael Owen in November, 2014.