Alice Herz-Sommer

Alice Herz-Sommer (26 November 1903 – 23 February 2014) was a Czech-born pianist, music teacher, and supercentenarian who survived internment in the Theresienstadt concentration camp during the Holocaust and was verified as the oldest known survivor at the time of her death.

Born in Prague to an assimilated Jewish family, Herz-Sommer began piano studies at age five and developed into a professional concert pianist, performing works by composers such as Beethoven and Chopin across Europe in the interwar period.

Alice Herz-Sommer was born on November 26, 1903, in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, into a prosperous German-speaking Jewish family. Her father, Friedrich Herz, worked as a merchant, providing financial stability for the household. Her mother, Sofie Herz, was highly educated and socially connected, associating with prominent intellectuals and writers in Prague's vibrant cultural scene, which included figures like Gustav Mahler and Franz Kafka.

Growing up in Prague's assimilated Jewish community, Herz-Sommer experienced a childhood immersed in the city's pre-World War I cultural richness, where music and literature were central to family life, though the era's underlying ethnic tensions in the multi-ethnic empire foreshadowed future challenges for Jewish families like hers.

Alice Herz-Sommer, born on November 26, 1903, in Prague to a cultured Jewish family that valued music and learning, commenced piano instruction at age five under the guidance of her older sister, Irma, a talented musician herself. Irma's lessons continued until Herz-Sommer reached approximately twelve years of age, during which time she exhibited exceptional dedication, practicing for several hours daily.