Richard Netter
Thanks To Scandinavia was founded by Richard Netter and Victor Borge for the purpose of providing scholarships and fellowships at American universities and medical centers to students, educators, researchers, and doctors from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden as a means of expressing appreciation to the Scandinavian people for their heroism and bravery during the war years in saving persons of the Jewish faith and other persecutees from “Hitler’s Final Solution”; and with the Rescue as an example, reminding current and future generations of man’s responsibility to his fellow man.
Mr. Netter was born on September 16, 1918 in New York, attended grammar and high schools in White Plains, New York, and received both his undergraduate and law degrees from Cornell University, 1939 and 1941 respectively. Their two daughters, Laurie Sprayregen and Patricia Shiland, graduated from Cornell University in 1979 and 1983 respectively, as did his father, William Netter, in 1933.
During summer vacations from Cornell Law School, after graduation and continuing for many years, Mr. Netter was heavily involved with the United Jewish Appeal, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies. He also served as Director of the Central Bureau of Jewish Aged, HIAS, the League School for Seriously Disturbed Children, and numerous other charitable and educational organizations.
Mr. Netter was a partner of the law firm of Singer Netter Dowd & Berman, specializing in international, corporate, estate, and probate law. He also served as Trustee and Vice Chairman of Beth Israel Medical Center (one of New York City’s major hospitals), and concurrently as Director of the National Conference of Christians and Jews; and cofounder (1963), President, and Director of Thanks To Scandinavia. He also served as a member of both the Cornell University and Law School Advisory Councils, as President of the Cornell Law School Alumni Associations, and as a Director of the American Arbitration Association.
Richard Netter, 1963
In 1958, Mr. Netter conceived of and organized a seminar bearing the name “Richard and Alice Netter Seminar,” administered under the joint auspices of the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Annually, representatives of labor and management and public interest participants attend to discuss discriminatory practices and to formulate means of promoting greater intergroup harmony and understanding.
In 1963, six years after reading about the rescue of Danish Jews during World War II in the little known book Their Brothers’ Keepers, Mr. Netter joined with Victor Borge to found Thanks to the Danes, which later became Thanks to Scandinavia.
On July 4, 1968, Mr. Netter was selected as the American speaker at Rebild National Park in Jutland, Denmark, where the Danes have been celebrating the American Declaration of Independence since 1912.
In 1970, Mr. Netter received the Joint Special Award of Merit from Cornell University and the National Conference of Christians and Jews for: distinguished leadership in the elimination of intergroup prejudices which disfigure and distort religious, social and political relations; for fostering amity, justice and co-operation among religious, racial, ethnic, labor and management groups in our nation; and for outstanding contributions in promoting the cause of goodwill understanding among the people of our nation and other nations. Mr. Netter was also knighted by each of the four Scandinavian countries, twice by Denmark.
In 1981, Mr. and Mrs. Netter established a Thanks To Scandinavia Scholarship for Graduate Study at Cornell University where numerous Scandinavians have already received such scholarships for study at Cornell.
Thanks To Scandinavia mourns the passing of its co-founder, longtime president, and inspiration, Richard Netter, who passed away on July 2, 2009.
Feature
A Melancholy Beauty: Interview with Founders Kalin and Sharon Tchonev
Liv Grimsby, Thanks To Scandinavia A Melancholy Beauty, a Songs of Life Production, had its World Premiere tour last year with performances in Washington DC, Boston and New York City. A Melancholy Beauty is a commissioned oratorio which depicts the rescue of 49,000 Bulgarian Jews from Hitler’s death camps, in 1943. It was founded by [...]
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