Political husband, doctor and Holocaust survivor Dr. John Galambos died of natural causes Wednesday at age 97.
The "first man" of Sandy Springs, he was married for six decades to the city's first Mayor Eva Galambos — the woman who led the effort to create the city of Sandy Springs, triggering the cityhood movement in the metro area about 15 years ago. She died in 2015.
"It was his steady strength and devotion that contributed to Eva's success," Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul said Thursday.
“While it is a great loss for the city, I am sure Eva is happy to once again have John by her side,” Paul added.
> Read and sign the online guestbook for Dr. John Galambos
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Credit: Phil Skinner
Credit: Phil Skinner
A Jewish native of Hungary, Dr. Galambos survived Germany’s Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, which is where child diary author Anne Frank died.
City spokeswoman Sharon Kraun said Dr. Galambos lost much of his family in the camp. After World War II, a friend said he was heading to Athens, so the 24-year-old Galambos decided to join, excited to head to Greece.
Instead, Galambos ended up in Athens, Georgia, said Kraun.
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The doctor told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2006 that he came to the United States with no ability to speak English and less than $10 in his pocket. Soon after, he proved renowned scientist Albert Einstein wrong.
Galambos wrote Einstein — whose niece he had met — a letter in German while trying to get admitted to medical school in 1948, he told the Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum in a 2014 interview.
Galambos wanted Einstein to help him get a scholarship at Emory University because there had been technical problems with Galambos' visa.
He recalled what Einstein wrote back: "Dear Johan. Don't worry about your scholarship, with all the returning veterans and all the new applicants for medical school at all the universities it is very unlikely that you would be accepted."
It’s all relative; Galambos got accepted, became a gastroenterologist and taught at Emory for 35 years before leading the university’s digestive diseases program.
Dr. Galambos is survived by three children and six grandchildren. The burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the Anne Frank in the World exhibit in Sandy Springs, 5920 Roswell Road.
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