Edith Windsor

Edith "Edie" Windsor^[1] (née Schlain; June 20, 1929 – September 12, 2017) was an American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activist and a former technology manager at IBM.^[2][3]

Edith "Edie" Windsor
Edith Windsor in 2017
Born	Edith Schlain (1929-06-20)June 20, 1929 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	September 12, 2017(2017-09-12) (aged 88) New York City, New York
Alma mater	New York University Temple University
Employer	IBM
Known for	United States v. Windsor
Movement	LGBT rights
Spouse(s)	Saul Windsor (?-?; div.) Thea Clara Spyer ​ ​ (m. 2007; died 2009)​ Judith Kasen ​ (after 2016)​
Awards	see below
Website	EdieWindsor.com

Windsor was the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court of the United States case United States v. Windsor, which successfully overturned Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act and was considered a landmark legal victory for the same-sex marriage movement in the United States.

Windsor died in Manhattan, New York on September 12, 2017 at the age of 88.

Early life and education

Windsor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to James and Celia Schlain, a Russian Jewish immigrant family of modest means. She was the youngest of three children.^[2][3][4] During her childhood, her family suffered as a result of the Great Depression, and her father lost both his candy-and-ice-cream store and their home above it.^[2][5] In school, she at times experienced anti-Semitism.^[3][6] Throughout school, she dated boys her age, but said later she recalls having crushes on girls.^[3][7]

Windsor received her bachelor's degree from Temple University in 1950.^[2][8] In 1955, she began pursuing a master's degree in mathematics, which she obtained from New York University in 1957.^[2][3][6] She then joined IBM, where she worked for the next sixteen years. During this time, she spent two semesters studying applied mathematics at Harvard University on an IBM fellowship.^[2]