Esther Safran Foer

Esther Safran Foer was born in Łódź, Poland. Her parents were Ethel and Louis Safran, who met and married in 1945, each the sole Holocaust survivor of their families. She spent her early childhood in a displaced persons camp in Germany before moving with her family to the USA in 1949. The family later settled in Washington, DC. Her father took his own life in 1954, when she was eight years old. Esther married Albert Foer, a lawyer and president of the American Antitrust Institute, with whom she had three sons: novelist Jonathan Safran Foer and journalists Franklin Foer and Joshua Foer. Ms. Foer worked as a press secretary for Sen. George McGovern. She founded the public-relations firm FM Strategic Communications in 2002 and served for 10 years as CEO of Sixth & I, a synagogue and cultural center. In 2008, The Forward recognized Ms. Foer as one of its Forward 50; The Washingtonian included her in its 2015 list of The Most Powerful Women in Washington. In 2020, Ms. Foer made her literary debut with her post-Holocaust memoir I Want You To Know We're Still Here.