ERVIN ERDOES

ERDOES--Ervin G. (October 16, 1922 - November 17, 2019) was born in Budapest Hungary. Because of his Jewish faith, after he graduated High School, he was forced into the fascist Hungarian Army. Following the German Invasion, Ervin and his father were deported and sent by cattle car to the Sachsenhausen camp in Germany. Upon arrival they lied about their skills and placed in a forced labor factory, rather than be sent to Auschwitz. Assigned to the Henkel munitions factory, they secretly sabotaged their work. At one point he escaped the camp, only to go back. At the end of the war, prisoners were death marched toward the Baltic Sea. They were saved by the 82nd Airborne Division - US Army. Ervin and his father walked from Berlin to Budapest where he enrolled in medical school. However, he was branded a dissident by the Communist regime and fled Hungry, enrolling in University of Munich medical school despite not speaking German. He focused on enzymes and peptides and how they aided in the control of blood pressure. In 1954, Ervin immigrated to the US going on to work at Carnegie-Mellon University, University of Oklahoma, Texas Southwest Medical and University of Illinois College Medicine, where he became Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology. He was world-renowned scientist whose research and discoveries regarding the biochemistry and functions of cardiovascular peptides and the enzymes that regulate their activity greatly increased our understanding of how blood pressure and cardiovascular functions can be controlled. Ervin's research resulted in nearly 300 publications and garnered numerous national and international awards but his lasting impact is on his students, fellows and colleagues. Ervin was a proud naturalized American citizen, who cherished the opportunity to live in this great nation in freedom, having witnessed and survived the Holocaust and oppression under both the Nazis and Communists. He is survived by his wife Sara Rabito of Chicago, Illinois, son Peter, daughter-in-law Kimberly Erdoes, grandson Dirk Ervin Erdoes, and granddaughter Erin Erdoes of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and son Philip Erdoes, daughter-in-law Mary Erdoes and granddaughters, Mia, Morgan and Mason Erdoes of New York City, New York. He was preceded in death by his son, Martin Erdoes.