Francesca Luisa Levi Vidale Langbaum

Francesca L. Langbaum

Francesca Luisa Levi Vidale Langbaum, 88, of Charlottesville died on Sunday, April 11, 2010, in Charlottesville.

She was born on April 5, 1922, in Bologna, Italy, the daughter of the late Emilio Levi Vidale, an engineer, and Silvia Treves Vidale, who was a Red Cross nurse during World War II. She was also preceded in death by her brothers, Marcello Vidale and Guido Levi Vidale.

The family immigrated to the United States in 1939 when Italy began persecuting Jews. Francesca graduated from Wellesley College with a B.A. degree as Phi Beta Kappa with highest honors. She then earned her M. A. degree in French from Cornell University.

She married Robert Langbaum in 1950 and had a daughter, Donata Emily Esther in 1956.

Francesca worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and then taught Latin at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York. She also taught French at Cornell University and edited the French section of the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. She taught Italian for many years at the University of Virginia and was active in many organizations, including the League of Women Voters, the Wellesley Club and Congregation Beth Israel. Throughout her life, she maintained her close ties with her family and home in Florence, Italy.

She is survived by her husband, Robert; her daughter, Emily; her son-in-law, Marcelo; and her three grandchildren, Jessica, Nora, and Peter Rubin.

She was a loving and devoted wife, mother and grandmother and a good friend to all who knew her. She will be greatly missed and forever remembered.

A funeral service was held 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 13, 2010, at the Hill and Wood Funeral Home.

Friends may sign the guest book at www.hillandwood.com.


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.