Richard Hauser

Richard Hauser (1911 1990) was an Austrian-British sociologist who had a significant influence on modern social work, primarily through his practical work. Hauser contributed to the founding of centers for group studies and community work worldwide, including in Osnabrück, Essen, and Cologne in Germany.

Richard Hauser was born into a Jewish family in Vienna, on 1 April 1911, the second child of Simon and Hermine Hauser, a Jewish family. His father died in 1934, and his mother was deported to Łódź Ghetto in 1941, where her trail disappeared. Hauser studied sociology and psychology in Vienna, without obtaining a degree.

Hauser married Ruth Kantor, with whom he had a daughter, Eva Cox, who was born in Vienna in 1938, less than three weeks before the Anschluss that left the family stateless. While Ruth and Eva went to England during World War II, Hauser joined the British Army in Palestine; other family members sought refuge in Sydney. After the war, Hauser worked for the United Nations Refugee Association in Rome and was reunited with his family.

In 1948, the Hauser family emigrated to Australia, he met American-Australian pianist and writer Hephzibah Menuhin (19201981),

Hauser and Menuhin worked together in many ways. While still in Sydney, they began working with individuals with mental health conditions, and in 1954, established the Psychiatric After Care Club, a support group for patients who were about to be discharged from a mental health hospital. The Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association was established the following year, with Hauser and Menuhin serving as co-founders. They also founded the Center for Human Rights and Responsibilities, and the Centre for Group Studies, and later moved to Friends Hall, a Quaker settlement house in Bethnal Green, in the East End of London. They later ran a Human Rights refuge from their house at 16 Ponsonby Place in Pimlico. This also became the base for The Institute for Social Research, which Hauser ran until his death. They worked on small-steps conciliation and attempted to help minorities all over the world.

Hauser and Menuhin were married until Menuhin's death from throat cancer in 1981.