Eva Duldig

Early life Austria Duldig was born in Vienna, Austria, and is Jewish. Her mother was artist and inventor Slawa Horowitz Duldig (c. 1902–1975), who invented and patented an improved folding umbrella in 1929.

Switzerland In 1938 when she was eight months old, in the wake of deportations of Jews from Vienna to Dachau concentration camp, fleeing the Nazis the family left Austria for Switzerland. The family managed to escape after Nazi Germany's Anschluss of Austria in March 1938, as her father traveled to Switzerland on a temporary visa to play in a tennis tournament. Later that year he convinced an official to allow his family to come and "visit" him in Zurich, thereby staying a step ahead of the Holocaust.

Singapore; deported The family was only allowed to stay in Switzerland for a short time.

In Singapore, six months after their arrival the British arrested them, because they had German identity documents. They were deported by boat from Singapore to Australia in September 1940. The Australian government therefore interned the three of them for two years in isolated Tatura Internment Camp 3 D, 180 kilometres north of Melbourne.

The internment camp was located near Shepparton, in the northern part of the state of Victoria. She took a role as physical education teacher in 1957 at Mount Scopus College, a Jewish day school in Melbourne.

In the 1957 Maccabiah Games, Duldig won gold medals in singles and doubles. In the 1961 Maccabiah Games, she again won a gold medal in singles, this time defeating South African Marlene Gerson in the final, and won a silver medal in women's doubles.

Australian Open Playing in the Australian Open, Duldig made it to the Round of 16 in singles in 1957, 1959, and 1968, and to the Round of 32 in 1958 and the Round of 64 in 1961. In doubles at the Australian Open, she made it to the quarterfinals in 1958 and 1959, to the Round of 16 in 1961, and to the Round of 32 in 1968.

Wimbledon She played tennis at the Wimbledon Championships in 1961, 1962, and 1963. She took unpaid leave from her job as a teacher to compete at Wimbledon.

In 1963 at Wimbledon, again representing the Netherlands, in women's singles she beat Hungary Zsófia Broszmann of Hungary in the round of 64, but was defeated by Elizabeth Starkie of Great Britain in the round of 32.

French Championships Duldig played singles in the 1961 French Championships, losing to 14th seed Deidre Keller of Great Britain in the Round of 128. In June 1963 she played in the 1963 Federation Cup against Switzerland, defeating Alice Wavre in singles, and winning in doubles against Janine Bourgnon and Anne-Marie Studer with her partner Jenny Ridderhof. That same month she played in the Fed Cup against the United States, and was defeated by Darlene Hard in singles, and by Billie Jean Moffitt (King) and Carole Caldwell, while partnering Jenny Ridderhof, in the quarter-final.

Honors In 2000, she was inducted into the Maccabi Victoria Hall of Fame.

Family and later life

Duldig met Dutch Maccabiah tennis player Henri de Jong on a Tel Aviv tennis court at the 1961 Maccabiah Games in Israel. They became engaged five days after they met, and married in February 1962 in Australia at the St Kilda Hebrew Congregation synagogue. In 2016 she received a Victorian Community History Historical Interpretation Award with filmmaker David Smith for "Duldig Studio Documentaries. Volume 1". Australian Broadcasting Corporation wrote that the musical "is a remarkable story". The Australian Jewish News wrote: "there's no shortage of drama, heartache and lucky escape." Limelight wrote that the musical was "sincere to a fault." The Age wrote: "Director Gary Abrahams keeps the story's emotional core vivid and convincing and Anthony Barnhill's score suits the material well. The singing is excellent.... this show has heart."