The widow of Nobel Laureate, Holocaust survivor, and well-known author Elie Wiesel, Marion Wiesel, passed away on Sunday at the age of 94 at her Greenwich, Connecticut, home.
“It is with profound grief that we share that Marion Wiesel—activist, wife, mother and grandmother—passed away this morning, February 2nd, 2025,” according to the Eli Wiesel Foundation for Humanity website, founded with money from his 1986 Nobel Prize.
Fourteen of her husband’s works were translated from French to English by Marion. According to The New York Times, she was most pleased of her 2006 translation of his iconic work, “Night,” which was first translated by Stella Rodway and published in 1960 before they were married.
A video about children killed during the Holocaust, “Children of the Night,” was also written and spoken by Marion.
She produced many television programs, including “A Passover Haggadah,” “The World of Elie Wiesel” and “The Oslo Concert: A Tribute to Peace.”
“Those seeking to honor her memory can make charitable donations to support children in Israel at the Beit Tzipora Centers through The Elie Wiesel Foundation’s website,” the foundation said.
On January 27, 1931, Mary Renate Erster was born in Vienna. When the Nazis took power, her family fled to different regions of Europe. They eventually managed to smuggle themselves into Switzerland in 1942, courtesy to a family member of her mother’s who was a Swiss citizen.
In 1949, they arrived in New York.
Marion married F. Peter Rose in the late 1950s, and they had a daughter named Jennifer. She met Elie Wiesel while her marriage was coming to an end. Elisha, their son, was born after their 1969 marriage.
Marion is credited with helping raise her husband’s stature.
“In the alignment of stars that helped make Wiesel the international icon he became, his marriage to Marion was among the most significant,” Joseph Berger wrote in “Elie Wiesel: Confronting the Silence.”
Upon learning of Marion’s death, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon tweeted, “I am deeply saddened by the passing of Marion Wiesel. Her presence at the UN’s International Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony each year was a testament to her unwavering commitment to memory and truth. My heartfelt condolences to her family. May her memory be a blessing.”