Emma Kaufman

7486 Emma Ratz Kaufman (1881–1979) was a Canadian activist and philanthropist who worked as an international YWCA administrator. For over 25 years she served as a secretary on the staff of Tokyo Y.W.C.A., and also a member of the national Y.W.C.A. committee of Japan. In 1929 she was honored for her distinguished service to the Japanese Y.W.C.A. by being presented with the Emperor's silver cup.

Biography Kaufman was born in Kitchener (then Berlin) in 1881. She was the daughter of industrialist Jacob Kaufman, founder of the Kaufman Rubber Company, and Mary Ratz. Her family was active at the local Zion Evangelical Church, which founded the Berlin YWCA in 1905. Her mother served as the organization's first president, later donating funds for a new wing of YWCA building at 84 Federick Street. While growing up in Kitchener, she attended the Suddaby Public School and the Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School. After graduating from high school Kaufman studied Home Economics at the Ontario Ladies' College in Whitby, Ontario. and from her inheritance she donated money to the YWCA organization at Kyoto and Nagoya; she built an apartment for Y staff, sponsored 27 young Japanese women for studying abroad, and brought 12 from the US and Canada to work at the Japanese Y.

Honours In Kaufman received a silver cup from the Emperor of Japan in recognition of her contributions to the YWCA of Japan and efforts to support refugees following an earthquake in 1923.

During the Golden Jubilee celebration of the "Y" in Japan, a special ceremony was held for the unveiling of a bust of Kaufman. In 1941 Kaufman was appointed by the world's Y.W.C.A. executive committee to make a survey of the British West Indies. In 1965 she received an International Cooperation Year medal from Cardinal Leger at a ceremony in Montreal.

In honour of Ms. Kaufman, there was a reception and dinner within a week of celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the YWCA.

On November 3, 1965, Kaufman's services to young Japanese women's education, was recognized by being awarded another Silver Cup given to her by the Emperor.