Eric Randol Schoenberg (born September 12, 1966) is an American lawyer and

genealogist Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their Lineage (anthropology), lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family ...

, based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, specializing in legal cases related to the recovery of looted or stolen artworks, particularly those by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

regime during

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Patt Morrison Patt Morrison is a journalist, author, and radio-television personality based in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles and Southern California. Media Morrison is a writer for the ''Los Angeles Times'', with the weekly '' 'Patt Morrison Asks' '' ...

"Patt Morrison Asks: E. Randol Schoenberg -- for the gold Klimt"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', March 17, 2012. Schoenberg is widely known as one of the central figures of the 2015 film '' Woman in Gold'', which depicted the case of

Maria Altmann Maria Altmann (née Maria Victoria Bloch, later Bloch-Bauer; February 18, 1916 – February 7, 2011) was an Austrian-American Jewish refugee from Austria, who fled her home country after it was annexed to the Nazi’s Third Reich. She is noted f ...

against the government of Austria. Schoenberg is portrayed by

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian and American actor, producer and businessman. Known for starring in comedic and superhero films, he was the List of highest-paid film actors, world's second-highest-paid actor in 202 ...

. He is also the subject of the 2023 genealogical documentary '' Fioretta''.

Early life and education

E. Randol Schoenberg was born to a

Jewish American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...

family of

Austrian Jewish The history of the Jews in Austria starts after the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation. There have been Jews in Austria since the 3rd century CE. Over the course of many centuries, the political status of the community rose and ...

descent in 1966. He is the grandson of two Austrian-Jewish composers:

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

and

Eric Zeisl Erich Zeisl, sometimes given as Eric Zeisel, (May 18, 1905 – February 18, 1959) was an Austrian-born American composer. Life and music Born to a middle class Jewish family in Vienna, then capital of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Zeisl was the so ...

. His parents are Ronald R. Schoenberg and Barbara Zeisl Schoenberg. His grandmother

Gertrud Schoenberg Gertrud Bertha Schoenberg (, Kolisch; pen name, Max Blonda; 11 July 1898 – 14 February 1967) was an Austrian opera librettist. She was the second wife of Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, whom she married in 1924, and the sister of his pupil, ...

was the sister of Jewish violinist

Rudolf Kolisch Rudolf Kolisch (July 20, 1896 – August 1, 1978) was a Viennese violinist and leader of string quartets, including the Kolisch Quartet and the Pro Arte Quartet. Early life and education Kolisch was born in Klamm, Schottwien, Lower Austria and ...

. His aunt Nuria is the widow of the Italian composer

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono bega ...

. His younger sister Marlena Fejzo is a medical scientist. Both "Randol" and "Ronald" (father of E. Randol) are anagrams of "Arnold" (grandfather of E. Randol). Schoenberg graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1988 and graduated with a J.D. degree from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Legal career

Schoenberg represented

in her suit to obtain five

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (14 July 1862 – 6 February 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement. His work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sket ...

paintings from the estate of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer as well as the "Palais", the Viennese house in which the paintings had been housed. Altmann won her case before the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

against the government of Austria in '' Republic of Austria v. Altmann'' in 2004. Schoenberg operated on a

contingent fee A contingent fee (also known as a contingency fee in the United States or a conditional fee in England and Wales) is any fee for services provided where the fee is payable only if there is a favourable result. Although such a fee may be used in ma ...

basis and reportedly received 40% of the proceeds from the Klimt paintings, amounting to a legal fee of over $120 million. He used a portion of his fee to fund a new building and expansion of the

Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust Holocaust Museum LA, formerly known as Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, is a museum located in Pan Pacific Park within the Fairfax district of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1961 by Holocaust survivors, Holocaust Museum LA is the oldest ...

. Schoenberg is featured in the documentary films '' Stealing Klimt'' and '' Adele's Wish'', which deal with the events surrounding Altmann's case against the government of Austria. He is depicted by

in '' Woman in Gold'', a 2015 feature film dramatizing the case. Schoenberg acted for the defendants-appellants in the case of '' Yahoo! Inc. v. La Ligue Contre Le Racisme et l'Antisemitisme (LICRA)'' 433 F.3d 1199 (9th Ci. 2006), in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 2016, Schoenberg filed suit to obtain the release of the October 2016 search warrant obtained by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

against

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

. In 2020, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the U.S. District Court's summary judgment ruling for the FBI. As of April 2015, Schoenberg was counsel at the small law firm of Burris, Schoenberg & Walden, LLP, and a lecturer at the

. He previously was an associate of the law firms

Fried Frank Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP (known as Fried Frank), is an multinational corporation, international law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm also has offices in Washington, DC, Washington, D.C., London, Frankfurt, and Bru ...

and Katten Muchin. He was awarded the ''

California Lawyer ''California Lawyer'' was a monthly legal magazine based in San Francisco, California.

'' "Attorney of the Year" award in 2007.

Philanthropy and genealogy

Schoenberg served as president of the

from 2005 to 2015. He is an avid genealogist and serves as a volunteer curator for Geni.com, one of its most active users, managing over 150,000 profiles. He is a board member of

JewishGen JewishGen is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 as an international electronic resource for Jewish genealogy. In 2003, JewishGen became an affiliate of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York ...

and the Co-Founder of its Austria-Czech Special Interest Group. He is the author of the ''Beginner's Guide to Austrian-Jewish Genealogy'' and the co-author of ''Getting Started with Czech-Jewish Genealogy''.

Personal life

Schoenberg resides in Brentwood,

, with his wife, Pamela Mayers Schoenberg. They have two sons and a daughter.

References

External links

Adeleswish.comGeni ProfileUC San Diego, Holocaust Living History Collection: Whatever Happened to Klimt’s Golden Lady? - with E. Randol Schoenberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoenberg, E. Randol 1966 births American genealogists American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Living people People from Brentwood, Los Angeles Princeton University alumni University of Southern California faculty USC Gould School of Law alumni Historians from California Lawyers from Los Angeles Arnold Schoenberg