Miriam deSalegui was a supporting member of Friends of Straus Park and a frequent visitor to the park. She even celebrated her 100th birthday party in the park with friends.
Miriam was born on August 22, 1925 in Manhattan. She met her husband-to-be, Mario deSalegui, at a ball given by veterans of a group of Americans who had gone to Spain to fight in the civil war against the fascist generalissimo Francis Franco.
Not too long after they met she received word that she had been accepted to the University of Wisconsin in Madison to complete a doctorate in Biochemistry. Upon her graduation, she and Mario moved to Mexico City for 5 years where he continued his education while she taught at the Instituto Politecnico National.
Subsequently, they returned to New York City where she worked at the New York Medical College as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, teaching first-year students. She was then solicited by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine to teach first-year medical students. She taught there for a very long time, focused on the difficult tasks of teaching two classes, doing research, publishing, and securing grants to cover most of her salary and those of her lab associates. At the time, she was the only woman on the department faculty at Mount Sinai.
Miriam’s research was on the chemical structure of mucus in children with cystic fibrosis. Years later they found that the mucus from cystic fibrosis became thickened through something called cross-linking, and it was a big discovery in the field.
Through the years Miriam and Mario enjoyed their lives together, filled with travel to places like Mexico City and the Basque country of Spain. Miriam continued to reside in Manhattan until she passed away at the age of 100 amazing years in 2025. We salute her contributions to FOSP and a long life well lived!