Obituaries

Martha Schlamme, the cabaret singer, died October 13, 1985, two months after suffering a stroke. She was 60.

Born in Vienna, Schlamme was internationally known for her Kurt Weill interpretations. She also had a 12-language repertory of folk songs which included many Yiddish tunes. Schlamme performed in a number of Broadway shows, including “Fiddler On The Roof,” where she played the part of Golde.

Born Marthe Haftel, Schlamme studied classical singing in Vienna and Paris, but had to flee with her family to Britain in 1938. She began her performing career in an internment camp on the Isle of Man. After World War II, she specialized in folk songs in London, and immigrated to the US in 1948, quickly establishing a national reputation with a program called “Songs of Many Lands.” Although she was outstanding as a singer of sophisticated love songs, Martha brought a special warmth and tenderness to intimate Yiddish songs.

The singer’s marriage to Hans Schlamme in the mid-40’s ended in divorce. She left no survivors.

Leila Rosen Young, a sociologist and active feminist, died of cancer on March 20, 1986 in Bethesda, Md. at the age of 43.

Dr. Young, sociologist and senior research scholar at the Center for Population Research at Georgetown University, was active in the Washington Jewish community, especially with the local Jewish feminist movement. She was a catalyst for feminist research and projects and instrumental in obtaining women’s equal participation in worship at her synagogue, Congregation Beth El in Bethesda. A founding member of the area’s Jewish Women’s Caucus, Dr. Young was also a member of the Dimona Chapter of Pioneer Women/ Na’amat USA, and the executive chapter of B’nai Brith Women. She was a leading member of Sociologists for Women in Society.

Dr. Young had recently completed a pilot study on the effect of women’s increasing participation in religious life has on changes in the synagogue. The summer issue of Conservative Judaism magazine will feature her article describing that study.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. Joseph L. Young; her daughters Michal and Avigayl; her mother, Sara Rosen Kaufman; and sisters Dr. Sherry Rosen and Roberta Goldstein.