Juliane Biro
Obituary Reports the death of an individual, providing an account of the person’s life including their achievements, any controversies in which they were involved, and reminiscences by people who knew them.
Juliane S. Biro, of Mount Kisco, died peacefully at Regional Hospice in Danbury, Conn. on Aug. 18. She was 93 years old.
Born on May 7, 1930, in Mainz, Germany, daughter of the late Dr. Leo and Charlotte Bing (née Vohsen), Juliane (who Americanized her name to Juliana and often went by Juli) fled Germany on a “Children’s Train” (Kindertransport) in 1939, living in England in 1939 and 1940, and then in the Dominican Republic between 1940 and 1946. Already fluent in three languages (German, English and Spanish) as a teenager, she immigrated to the United States in 1946, where she graduated from high school in 1949. In New York, she married the love of her life, the Hungarian-refugee sculptor Ivan Biro (born in Paris, 1926; died in Mount Kisco, 2001), on Feb. 29, 1960, living with him and devotedly taking care of an extended family in Manhattan and later South Salem.
Juliane graduated from Manhattanville College in 1953, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Russian and French. She earned a master’s degree in Russian studies from Fordham University in 1957, and her masters of library science from Columbia University in 1961.
Juliane worked for the rare book and manuscript dealer, William H. Schab, between 1954 and 1961, while also practicing as a book translator before devoting the rest of her life to public service as a multilingual, multidisciplinary reference librarian. She was art librarian at the New York Public Library between 1962 and 1968, before moving to the Mount Kisco Public Library in 1968, where she worked in a wide variety of different roles – from children’s librarian to foreign language reference librarian – before fully retiring in 2018. Juliane was dedicated to helping people, passionate about connecting them to information and knowledge and a supportive and inspiring mentor to individuals of all ages.
In addition to her committed service as a public librarian, Juliane enjoyed cooking, travel, visiting art galleries and museums, origami, family history and helping her friends and her community. She was always welcoming, eager to meet others and connect with them. A devoted listener, she loved life and people passionately, and she always did her utmost to make the world a better place.
She was also a member of the Emmaus Community, a non-territorial Catholic parish in Stamford, Conn.; the Woodcrest Community in Mount Kisco, a residential community to which she moved in 2003; and a co-founder of the Westchester Origami Workers. Having spent her late childhood and much of her adolescence as a displaced person due to her Jewish ethnicity, she had a lifelong concern for the plight of immigrants and refugees, and she volunteered her time teaching English as a Second Language.
Juliane is survived by her loving son, Dr. Matthew Biro, and her daughter-in-law, the artist Beverly Fishman, of Detroit. She was not only predeceased by her parents and husband, but also her brother, Ernst Friedrich Bing.
A private cremation was held. Danbury Memorial Funeral Home assisted the family with arrangements.
In lieu of donations, it was always Juliane’s wish that you lend your support to your local public library as well as less-fortunate people in your society.
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