Key facts about Ruth Taussig
- Ruth was born in Manhattan in 1893 and was the only child of Emil and Tillie Taussig.
- Her father was president of the West Disinfecting Company.
- The family boarded Titanic at Southampton after a visit to Vienna and travelled on joint ticket 110413.
- Ruth occupied cabin E68 and survived with her mother in Lifeboat 8.
- Her father Emil died in the sinking and his body was not identified.
- Ruth married Julius Bernhard Lichtenstein in 1915, had two daughters and died of typhoid fever in 1925.
An only child in a New York manufacturing family
Ruth Taussig was born in Manhattan on November 25, 1893. She was the only child of Emil Taussig, a Bohemian-born manufacturer, and Tillie Mandelbaum Taussig, a New Yorker from a German-Jewish family. Emil became president of the West Disinfecting Company.
The family lived in Manhattan and later at 777 West End Avenue. In 1912, after a visit to Vienna, Ruth and her parents booked first-class passage home aboard Titanic.
Cabins E67 and E68 aboard Titanic
The Taussigs boarded at Southampton on joint ticket 110413. Emil and Tillie were associated with cabin E67, while Ruth occupied E68. Ruth was 18 years old, old enough to understand the growing danger but still travelling as part of a close family group.
On the night of April 14, accounts preserved in the family biography say steward Alfred Theissinger warned the Taussigs to put on lifebelts and hurry to the Boat Deck. The warning moved them quickly into the evacuation.
Ruth and Tillie survived in Lifeboat 8
Ruth entered Lifeboat 8 and was followed by her mother. Tillie later recalled trying to persuade officers to allow more men into the boat because it still had room. Emil did not join them and died when Titanic sank.
The separation made the Taussigs one of many families split permanently during the evacuation. Ruth and Tillie reached Carpathia and arrived in New York on April 18. Emil’s body was never identified.
Marriage and two daughters after the disaster
On December 1, 1915, Ruth married New York tobacco merchant Julius Bernhard Lichtenstein. They had two daughters, Eleanor, born in 1916, and Alice, born in 1920. Census records place the family in Manhattan during the years after the First World War.
Ruth’s adult life was much shorter than her mother’s. Tillie lived until 1957, but Ruth survived Titanic by less than 13 years.
Ruth died of typhoid fever at 31
Ruth Taussig Lichtenstein died on January 9, 1925 from typhoid fever. She was only 31. She was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York, where other members of the family were also laid to rest.
Her biography preserves a different kind of Titanic aftermath: survival at 18 followed by marriage, motherhood and an early death long before most of the better-known late-life survivor interviews were recorded.
Sources used for this biography
Specialist passenger biographies provide the Taussig family history, cabin and lifeboat assignments, while the linked records for Tillie and Emil help reconstruct the family’s separation during the evacuation.
- Encyclopedia Titanica: Ruth Taussig Birth, family, cabin E68, Lifeboat 8, marriage, daughters and death from typhoid fever.
- Encyclopedia Titanica: Tillie Taussig Family background, joint ticket, Lifeboat 8 and Tillie’s later life.
- Encyclopedia Titanica: Emil Taussig Confirms Emil’s cabin E67, occupation, death in the sinking and unidentified body.
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Frequently asked questions
Who was Ruth Taussig?
Ruth Taussig was an 18-year-old first-class passenger travelling home to New York with her parents, Emil and Tillie Taussig.
Which lifeboat did Ruth Taussig survive in?
Ruth and her mother Tillie survived in Lifeboat 8.
Did Ruth Taussig’s father survive Titanic?
No. Emil Taussig died in the sinking and his body was not identified.
What happened to Ruth Taussig after Titanic?
She married Julius Lichtenstein in 1915, had two daughters and died of typhoid fever in 1925 at age 31.