Dr. Ervin Adam in Houston, Texas, 2018. Photo courtesy of the family.
Ervin Adam, MD, PhD, passed away peacefully in sleep at his home on March 21, 2024. He was born in 1922 in Rachov, a small town in then-eastern Czechoslovakia. His mother was Hungarian, his father was Czech. His grandmother spoke only German and Yiddish. Ervin was fluent in Czech, German, and Hungarian. He was a good student, but his passions were soccer and tennis.
The Great Depression severely affected his later childhood years. The nearest high school was a Russian language school in Uzhhorod, where he studied alone far away from his family. Circumstances outside of his control shaped his early adulthood. Ervin escaped the first Jewish deportations in 1941, hiding in the woods with his sister. In the years 1944-1945, he was taken on a journey that led to the Death March. He survived Auschwitz and several other concentration camps; as Ervin always liked to say, he was given a free tour of Germany courtesy of the Nazi government. He was liberated by the American army in Dachau.
Following World War II, Ervin moved to Prague, where he studied medicine at Charles University. He graduated in 1951 and shortly thereafter married his lifelong partner of 59 years, Vlasta Adam MD. He began his medical and research career as an infectious disease specialist; he was instrumental in developing polio treatment programs in the countries behind the Iron Curtain. Dr. Adam became a premiere epidemiologist. Among many other accomplishments, he was responsible for testing the Sabine polio vaccine.
Drs. Adam believed in the Prague Spring Revolution of 1968 that promised to end the communist oppression in Czechoslovakia. Following the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet army in 1968, the Adam family emigrated and finally settled in Houston. Dr. Adam was a full-time professor at Baylor College of Medicine where he continued his research career. His keen intellect, sheer determination, and imagination, as well as genuine interest in his field, guided his research. He affected the lives of many students, fellows, and colleagues, encouraging them to be the best they could be.
Dr. Adam survived many adversities in his lifetime, always looking to the future, helping those in need, and giving advice. His wisdom and advice will remain a lasting memory for many. He is predeceased by his wife, Vlasta Adam MD, and survived by his grandchildren, Jonathan, Johana, and Joshua; his daughter Karolina and son-in-law John; and daughter Alice. In place of flowers, donations may be made to the Drs. Vlasta and Ervin Adam Awards Endowed Fund at Baylor College of Medicine and Houston Hillel.