“Zina” (Sophie Salamon), Leo’s mother, was a teacher before Leo was born. However, when he reached school age, she stayed home and tutored him (and later, his younger brother, Henry). Leo “didn’t begin formal schooling until the age of nine, when he started at a private institution attended and staffed mostly by Jews.” (“Leonid Hurwicz’s Game“) This was probably the same type of chinuch (חינוך) where Adek taught history when he returned to Warsaw after receiving his law degree.

Klara Samuels says “Uncle Adek was another important adult in my life. I loved his wife Zina, my father’s sister, who was also my mother’s closest friend. Zina was soft, plump and cuddly.” (“God Does Play Dice,” p. 30)

I remember Zina as a sweet, nervous woman, often scurrying about trying to please Adek, which was not always easy. Her maiden name, Salamon, I was told, may have indicated Italian, or simply Sephardic Jewish, heritage. I remember Adek mentioning once, with great relish, the time when he was “chasing Zina around Warsaw.”

She died of cancer at age 62, in Billings Hospital, in Chicago. Her obituary from the Chicago Hyde Park Herald of February 22, 1956 (edited OCR version, so may contain errors):

“Mrs. Abraham Hurwicz (Mrs. Sophie Hurwicz), 62, of 5112 Dorchester Ave., died in Billings hospital. Mrs. Hurwicz’s husband, Abraham, is professor of Slovenic languages and culture at Roosevelt University in the University of Chicago. Also surviving are two sons: Leonid, economics professor at the University of Minnesota, and Henry of Stratford Conn.; six grandchildren, and a brother in Israel.”

The brother in Israel would be Moses. (See family tree below.)

A similar notice appeared in the Chicago Tribune on February 12, 1956.

Sophie Zina Salamon
b: June 12, 1893
d: February, 1956
Facts
  • June 12, 1893 - Birth - ; Stawiski, Poland
  • February, 1956 - Death - Billings Hospital; Chicago, Illinois
Ancestors
   
 
 
Schlomo Lazar Salamon
1848 - 1-2-1914
  
  
  
?
 
Sophie Zina Salamon
June 12, 1893 - February, 1956
  
 
  
 
   
  
  
 
Family Group Sheet - Child
PARENT (M) Schlomo Lazar Salamon
Birth1848Stawiski
Death1-2-1914 Łomża, Poland
Marriageto Kejla Kacanowska
FatherMoshe (Moszk) Salamon
Mother?
PARENT (F) Kejla Kacanowska
Birth
Death
Marriageto Schlomo Lazar Salamon
FatherNachman Kacanowski
MotherYetka Navinskaya
CHILDREN
MMoses Salamon
Birth1889Stawiski, Poland
Death1972Israel
Marriageto Roza Salman
FSophie Zina Salamon
BirthJune 12, 1893Stawiski, Poland
DeathFebruary, 1956Chicago, Illinois
Marriageto Adolf Abraham (Adek) Hurwicz
Family Group Sheet - Spouse
PARENT (M) Adolf Abraham (Adek) Hurwicz
Birth10 DEC 1889Warsaw
Death4 AUG 1981 Minneapolis, MN
Marriageto Sophie Zina Salamon
FatherMaks Mojzesz Hurwicz
MotherSara Lea Frydland
PARENT (F) Sophie Zina Salamon
BirthJune 12, 1893Stawiski, Poland
DeathFebruary, 1956 Chicago, Illinois
Marriageto Adolf Abraham (Adek) Hurwicz
FatherSchlomo Lazar Salamon
MotherKejla Kacanowska
CHILDREN
MHenry Hurwicz
Birth1922
Death2010
Marriageto ?
Marriageto Lois (Kohout) Hurwicz
MLeo Leonid Hurwicz
Birth21 AUG 1917Moscow, Russia
Death24 JUN 2008Minneapolis, Minnesota
Marriageto Evelyn Jensen
Descendancy Chart
Sophie Zina Salamon b: June 12, 1893 d: February, 1956
Adolf Abraham (Adek) Hurwicz b: 10 DEC 1889 d: 4 AUG 1981
Henry Hurwicz b: 1922 d: 2010
?
Leo Leonid Hurwicz b: 21 AUG 1917 d: 24 JUN 2008
Evelyn Jensen b: 31 OCT 1923 d: 22 NOV 2016
Ruth Hurwicz b: 25 MAY 1951
Prof. David Markovitz b: 25 FEB 1954
Lara Markovitz b: 1983
Adam Markovitz b: 13 FEB 1987
Michael Mike Hurwicz b: 18 JAN 1949
Linda Cheryl Bryant b: 2-8-53
Maxim Hurwicz b: 5 SEP 1953
Roxanne Blanco b: 14 Jun 1959
Roxanne Blanco b: 14 Jun 1959
Nicole Blanco-Hurwicz b: 13 Nov 1982
Sarah Hurwicz b: 7 DEC 1946
Jon Kogut b: 17 MAY 1945
Sophie Kogut b: 23 AUG 1967
Brian Ashley Judd b: 5 JAN 1968
?
Paul
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