Eva Haller
Haller on May 3, 2013
Born
Eva Cseko

(1930-05-09) May 9, 1930
Budapest, Hungary
NationalityHungarian, American
Alma materThe New School for Social Research (B.A., Social Research)
Hunter College (MSW., Social Work)
Theodor Reik Clinic for Psychotherapy
OccupationActivist
Notable workFounding Board Chair, Free the Children,[1]
Trustee, UCSB
Founder & President, Campaign Communications Institute
SpouseDr. Yoel Haller (1987-present)[2]

Eva Haller (born Eva Cseko, May 9, 1930) is an American philanthropist, Holocaust survivor, and activist. Haller was born in Budapest, Hungary. She survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary as well as the Soviet Siege of Budapest.[3] She has engaged in and mentored countless organizations, serving as a board member, trustee, and passionate participant. Notable positions include Trustee of the University of California, Santa Barbara,[1] co-founder and President of the Campaign Communications Institute of America, Visiting Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University and the 2014 Magnusson Fellow.[4][5]

Personal life

Early life

When German forces occupied Budapest in 1944, Haller’s parents feared for her safety and brought her to the Scottish Mission Boarding School (St. Columba’s Church of Scotland). Missionary Jane Haining was the Matron of the School. When the missionaries were recalled and ordered to return to Scotland, Haining stayed to help the Jewish students and families. When it was discovered that the Institute was hiding Jews, Hungarian soldiers raided it, arrested Haining, and took her to the Gestapo.[6]

According to Haller, as the Jews in the mission school were being rounded up to be taken to the ghetto, she turned to a Hungarian Nazi soldier and stated, “I am too young and too beautiful to die.” She then grabbed the hand of a 10-year-old neighbor, whom she promised to keep safe, telling him, “Run!”[3]

Jane Haining was sent to do forced labor at Auschwitz in May 1944; she died that July. She was the only Scottish citizen to die at Auschwitz.[7] In 2014, Haller visited a church where Haining is honored in Glasgow, to pay tribute, and she was interviewed in a BBC documentary.[8]

Early activism

Eva Haller has been an advocate for social justice since the age of thirteen, when she would sneak out with her brother, Janos, to assist him in distributing anti-Hitler pamphlets throughout Budapest. Janos, who was one of the Jewish Partisans fighting the Nazis, was killed as he crossed the Yugoslavian border to join Tito’s army.[3]

Haller says his death propelled her to be the social, educational, and environmental activist she is today. In her brother’s memory, she served as Producer and Advisor to the film FOUR WINTERS, by Julia Mintz, about the Jewish Partisan’s who fought and disrupted the German army and its collaborators.[9]

Post-War life

Briefly in hiding, Haller was reunited with her parents, who had purchased documents stating they were Christian. Many of her family members perished during World War II and the Nazi occupation of Hungary.[6]

Her family was considered bourgeois by the new Soviet government. In this regime, universities were reserved for the “working class”. Haller realized that she would have to leave Hungary in order get an education.[10]

With the help of a former boyfriend, who worked in the passport office, and some funding from the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society (HIAS), Haller joined distant cousins living in Ecuador. She spoke no Spanish and was married off very quickly. In 1952, Haller was a 22-year-old divorcee with a two-year-old son. She left for New York, where she cleaned houses in the day and took classes at night. She received a B.A. in psychology at the New School for Social Research. Later, she received her Masters of Social Work (M.S.W.) at Hunter College.[11] In 1965, she joined Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Selma march.[12]

Haller thrived in New York City, where she later met and married Murray Roman. Together they founded the Campaign Communications Institute of America, a communications and research company specializing in political campaigns. They brought telemarketing to politics, and integrated its outreach to the Fortune 100 companies.[13][14]

In 1968 Murray and Eva Roman set off to volunteer with UNICEF in Southeast Asia for close to a year. The couple returned to the United States with a renewed commitment to social issues. She and her husband re-opened their business, which became one of the first to advocate for women’s rights. With help from the proceeds of their successful business, they continued the pursuit of their philanthropy.[15]

Yoel Haller

Three years after Murray Roman’s death in 1984, Eva met Yoel Haller, MD, an OBGYN who shared her dedication for social innovation and activism. Dr. Haller, a San Francisco-based OB/GYN, was the Medical Director of Planned Parenthood. He was also a clinical professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the University of California, San Francisco Medical School. They married in 1987.[15]

Work

As of 2022, Haller serves on the Boards of Directors for multiple non-profits, many of which she helped start, including:

Eva Haller Salon Series

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Haller launched a "Salon" over the videoconferencing platform Zoom, inviting guests to present their topics of knowledge in front of a select group of audience members, followed by a Q&A.[26] As of June 2022, Haller's "Zoom Salon" has aired over 120 salon episodes with different presenters, including:

Academia

Haller serves on the Board of Trustees at University of California, Santa Barbara, the Board of Governors at The New School, as a Visiting Professor and on The Board of Glasgow Caledonian University's New York Campus, and the Board of The Berkley Center at Georgetown University.[28]

Recognition and awards

  • 2006 - Selected as one of the “21 Leaders of the 21st Century”[29]
  • 2011- Recipient of the Mandela Award for Humanitarian Achievement, Rubin Museum of Art[30]
  • 2013 - Named Honorary Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University[31]
  • 2013 - Lifetime Achievement Award, United Nations Population Fund[32]
  • 2013 - Inaugural Mentoring Award, Forbes Women’s Summit[33][34]
  • 2014 - Awarded the Magnusson Fellowship at Glasgow Caledonian University[35]
  • 2014 - Awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Glasgow Caledonian University[35]
  • 2014 - Named Visiting Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University[35]
  • 2015 - Appointed to Prince’s Charities Canada Advisory Council[36]
  • 2015 - Awarded Luminary Status at the World Summit of Innovation and Entrepreneurship[37]
  • 2016 - Recognized as one of Impactmania's "101 Women of Impact"
  • 2016 - MyHero Women Transforming Media Award[38]
  • 2017 - Inaugural Ban Ki-moon Mentorship Award[39]

Bibliography

  • Free the Children (1998)
  • Sex, Time, and Power: How Women's Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution (2004)
  • Do Your Giving While You Are Living (2008)

References

  1. 1 2 "Board of Directors - Free The Children". Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Eva and Yoel Haller, Conspiring to Change the World, One Cause at a Time | Marcia Meier | Article/Story/Poem/Essay | Red Room". Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Eva Haller: A Work in Progress". The MY HERO Project. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  4. ↑ Smith, Jacquelyn (May 9, 2013). "Philanthropist Eva Haller, 83, Receives Inaugural Mentoring Award At Women's Summit". Forbes. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Magnusson Fellowship: Professor Eva Haller talks to Dr Sally Magnusson | Sally Magnusson | Article/Story/Poem/Essay | GCU". Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  6. 1 2 impactmania (July 20, 2019). "Philanthropist Eva Haller on Risk Taking". impactmania. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Jane Haining". www.yadvashem.org. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Jane Haining: The Scot who died in Auschwitz". BBC News. November 30, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Film Forum · Q&A with FOUR WINTERS Filmmaker Julia Mintz With Activist, Executive, Philanthropist, & Holocaust Survivor Eva Haller". Film Forum. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Eva Haller in Conversation with Dan Bena | GCNYC". Glasgow Caledonian New York College. April 30, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Sculptor Fletcher Benton's letters from The Alphabet series on display at CCNY". The City College of New York. April 27, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Eva Haller". Rotary International - World Peace Conference. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Murray Roman, Head Of Marketing Concern". The New York Times. May 9, 1984. Retrieved April 18, 2023 – via NYTimes.com.
  14. ↑ Archived copy Archived February 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  15. 1 2 Meier, Marcia. "Eva and Yoel Haller, Conspiring to Change the World, One Cause at a Time". Red Room Magazine. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  16. 1 2 "Board of Directors". The MY HERO Project. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  17. 1 2 "Eva Haller | Rubin Museum of Art". rubinmuseum.org. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  18. 1 2 "Eva Haller, a luminary in the nonprofit world, joins the News Literacy Project board". News Literacy Project. November 4, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Eva Haller – Sing for Hope". Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  20. ↑ "The Team". Final. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Boards". The Sunny Center. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  22. ↑ Dialogue, World Faiths Development. "World Faiths Development Dialogue". berkleycenter.georgetown.edu. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Eva Haller – Video Volunteers". www.videovolunteers.org. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  24. ↑ Eva Haller, Creative Visions Foundation, Tara Hunnewell, retrieved December 24, 2021
  25. ↑ "Eva Haller in Conversation with Dan Bena | GCNYC". Glasgow Caledonian New York College. April 30, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  26. ↑ Eva Haller in Conversation with Dan Bena - 5.20.2021, retrieved June 16, 2022
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "MY HERO Project - Eva Haller's Salon Series". MY HERO Project. June 16, 2022.
  28. ↑ Affairs, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World. "Eva Haller". berkleycenter.georgetown.edu. Retrieved April 18, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. ↑ "21 Leaders for the 21st Century". Women's eNews. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  30. ↑ Rubin Museum of Art: Board of Trustees
  31. ↑ "News & Events | Glasgow Caledonian University | Scotland, UK". Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  32. ↑ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  33. ↑ Smith, Jacquelyn. "Philanthropist Eva Haller, 83, Receives Inaugural Mentoring Award At Women's Summit". Forbes. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  34. ↑ "- YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  35. 1 2 3 "University News".
  36. ↑ "Prince's Charities Canada | Governance".
  37. ↑ "Awardees & Luminaries - World Summit on Innovation..." www.thewsie.org. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016.
  38. ↑ "Mentor and Philanthropist Eva Haller Wins My Hero's Women Transforming Media Award".
  39. ↑ "Helping Foster Children Think Like Superheroes".

Further reading

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