Paul Gourary

Born:	08-25-1919
Faculty:	Law School
Category:	Expelled student

Paul GOURARY, born on August 25th, 1919 in Baden near Vienna/Lower Austria (entitled residency ('heimatberechtigt') for Vienna/Austria, Citizenship: Austria), son of Julius (Jules) Gourary (1881-1964, match manufacturer) and his wife Regina Gourary (1888-1973, nee Schreiber) and lived in Vienna's 3rd district, Strohgasse 45. Paul Gourary was enrolled in the fall term 1937/38 at the Law School in the 1st year of his studies but could not continue his law studies after the "Anschluss" for racist reason. After the "Anschluss", he emigrated to New York/USA in 1939 via Southampton/England, together with his sister Lilly (married Gut) and his parents. The big apartment in Vienna's third district was "arianized" as well as all other belongings of the family. The apartment with all the furniture was taken over by the NS-lawyer SS-Hauptsturmführer Dr. Erich Führer. Führer was defense attorney of Otto Planetta, murderer of austrofascist chancellor Dr. Engelbert Dollfuss in the attempted NS-coup in 1934. During NS-times he was also "NS-Vermögenskommissär" for the "arianized" possessions and looted art-collections of Bloch-Bauer with the well-known "woman in gold"-Klimt-painting. In the 1950s Paul Gourary met his future wife Marianne (1920-2014; née Wilmersdoerffer, married Frugoni), who had emigrated from Munich to Geneva/Switzerland during the Nazi era, and to the USA in 1949 together with her first husband Orazio Frugoni. In the late 1950s Paul Gourary married Marianne Frugoni in New York and they settled in Manhattan (New York/NY) like his parents. His wife had a daughter from her first marriage, Corinne Frugoni, and the couple had even one son, John Gourary. Together with his wife Marianne Paul Gourary built up a unique multi-million dollar collection of rare books, prints, manuscripts, pamphlets, scrolls, broadsides, engravings, etchings and other artworks, best known for its antique books ("The Paul and Marianne Gourary Collection of Illustrated Books Fete"). After his death, the collection was going to auction. Paul Gourary was a devoted member of the Grolier Club, an association of collectors. He was elected to membership in 1952, served on its council for fifteen years and was elected to honorary membership, a rare distinction, in 2001. He and his wife were both also Fellows of the Morgan Library and frequently participated in programs at the Metropolitan Museum and the Cooper-Hewitt. Paul Gourary died on January 29th, 2007. His widow Marianne Gourary died on October 2nd, 2014 at the age of 93 in Manhattan, New York.

Lit.: obituary for Paul Gourary in: New York Times, February 4, 2007; obituary for his widow Marianne Gourary in: New York Times, October 11, 2014; obituary for his father Jules Gourary in: New York Times, October 24, 1964; information on the auction of his rare book and art collection.

Katharina Kniefacz, Herbert Posch