Marianne Neuman: MARIANNE NEUMAN, who died recently aged 94, was a German-born doctor who made a notable contribution to the practice of medicine in Ireland and was devoted particularly to the St John Ambulance Brigade.
She was born in Berlin in 1913. In the midst of her medical studies there, it became not only difficult but dangerous, as a Jew, to continue living in Germany.
She left in August 1936 and later arrived in London, where she married fellow countryman Dr Rudi Neuman, whom she had known for some time. Her family approved the union, with one of her uncles declaring: "He'll do for you!"
A fully qualified doctor, Rudi Neuman travelled to Edinburgh to pass his British medical exams as he intended to settle in Ireland.
When they arrived in Ireland, they acquired a large house on Upper Rathmines Road, in which Marianne Neuman lived and practised until recently.
Despite having two young daughters to look after, Neuman was accepted into the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and went on to qualify as a doctor - a course of action for which many hundreds of her patients have been grateful, particularly as she also had a diploma in child health.
Having served as chairwoman on the board of management of the Dublin Jewish Burial Society, Neuman was elected honorary life president on her 80th birthday in 1993.
Both she and her husband were active and committed founder members of the Dublin Jewish Progressive Congregation.
Rudi Neuman died suddenly in the synagogue at the conclusion of the Day of Atonement service in October 1965.
Neuman was a woman of wide interests, the St John Ambulance Brigade probably being the one that was dearest to her heart. Up to her 91st year, she continued to attend the annual horse show at the Royal Dublin Society in her uniform, though no longer on first aid duty.
In 2005, just days before her 92nd birthday, Neuman was invested as a dame of the Order of St John by the vice-lord prior of the order with the words: "I wish you to know that in investing you, I am not acting in virtue of my own office, but on the instructions of her majesty Queen Elizabeth the second, the sovereign head of our order, and on behalf of his royal highness the Duke of Gloucester, our grand prior.
"Your name has been submitted to and approved by her majesty and it is in her name that you are to be invested."
Down the years, Neuman looked after a great number of diplomats in the various embassies in Dublin, many remaining friends long after they had left Ireland.
She also counted among her wide and diverse circle of friends luminaries of the art world and the medical profession.
A source of great pride and pleasure to her was her barrister grandson Rudi, whose father, Eddie, was devoted to his mother-in-law and during her recent spells in hospital was constantly at her side.
As a private woman, Neuman loved to give the impression of being an eccentric, but those who really knew her were aware of her conventional high personal standards, her wonderful sense of humour and her continued willingness to help anyone in distress.
In her 90s she continued to travel far and wide, to swim, and was an undoubted gourmand with a love of fine food.
For many years she also kept a Sunday-morning date with a friend to attempt difficult crosswords. Her vocabulary was astonishing, possibly because of being fluent in English, German, Italian and French, with a passable knowledge of other languages. "And I can spell the words," she would pronounce.
Neuman is survived by her daughters Elizabeth and Evelyn, grandson Rudi and son-in-law Eddie.
Marianne Neuman: born 1913; died March 17th, 2008