Noemi (Nina) Efros died peacefully on Nov 18th, 2024 in a hospice in Redwood City. She had survived breast cancer 30 years earlier, but recently the cancer returned, attacking her body and ending her remarkable life.
Nina was born on Aug 27, 1945, in post war Leningrad, in the former Soviet Union. She descended from a long line of Eastern European Jewish intellectuals, and religious and scientific leaders. Closest in time, her grandfather Herzl served as a chief rabbi of St Petersburg, her mother Pina was a navy doctor during the WWII and a much-loved pediatrician afterwards, and her father Lev was a distinguished chemist and a highly decorated war hero.
Nina's childhood was spent in the family apartment next to the main Leningrad synagogue and Mariinsky Theatre. She maintained close relationships with her friends and classmates from that time, some for over 70 years and on several continents, showing her deep care about everyone's lives, families and well-being, right up until her very last moments.
Nina attained a Master's degree in macroeconomics from Leningrad State University which was one the top schools in the country. She went on to become a professor of economics before taking a job outside academia. When she moved to the United States, Nina was able to apply her experience to work at Washington Mutual bank until her retirement. She always took great pride in working successfully for over 20 years in a new country and in a new language and she truly believed in the United States as a land of endless possibilities.
Nina was introduced to Mikhail Fridlyand by Mikhail's brother who was her colleague. They met one another in the summer of 1972, and it was love at first sight for both of them. They were married 2 months later on Sep 8th and their only daughter, Zhenya, was born the following August. The three of them lived in a tiny apartment near The Summer Garden in Leningrad until their departure for the United States. They loved books, theater and travel wherever it was possible during Soviet times.
Once in the United States, they wholeheartedly embraced new life, new jobs, new language and new adventures and lived together until Mikhail's premature death from lymphoma 12 years after their arrival. Nina retired soon after his passing. In retirement, she continued to be active, spending her time with friends, practicing Tai Chi, engaging with politics and doing some travel. When her granddaughter Maia was born, Nina was elated, and became an incredibly devoted grandmother, including traveling twice a week from Fremont to San Francisco by BART and bus to take care of her beloved granddaughter.
Nina had an outstanding sense of humor, many interests and opinions but above all else she wanted to help people around her - with advice or action or just being there and listening. She was incredibly strong (even stoic), proud of the life she built for herself and her family, and she lived independently until two weeks before her death. She died as she lived - uncompromisingly, with dignity and integrity.
In addition to her daughter Zhenya (Jane) and granddaughter Maia, Nina is survived by her brother Alexander, his wife Lotta, their daughter Mika and her family, and by her brother Alexey, his wife Ira and their sons Alexey and Daniel and their families. She was preceded in death by her parents, Pina and Lev, by her husband, Mikhail, and by her son-in-law David.
In her last days, Nina was surrounded by her family, friends, former colleagues and neighbors. She will be forever in our hearts.