In Memory of Adriana Cudkowicz

Adriana Cudkowicz passed away at home, on March 7, 2019. Adriana (Vitta) Cudkowicz, daughter of Mario and Ines Vitta was born in Florence, Italy on March 15, 1934. She survived World War II, in hiding with her mother, but lost her father at Auschwitz. After the war, Adriana committed herself to her studies to make up for the lost years. Her hard work, perseverance, and ability to take on challenges — true traits of her personality — shone through and she graduated with honors at 18. Throughout her life, Adriana demonstrated passions for languages, literature, art, and travel. She was devoted to charitable causes and institutions, particularly Hadassah and the US Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.

On October 6, 1957, she married her life-long love, Dr. Gustavo Cudkowicz. (ז״ל) As a newly-wed, Adriana worked in a research laboratory in Milan, Italy. Shortly after the birth of their first daughter, Elena, the family relocated to the United States. In Oak Ridge, Tennessee Adriana had children Ariel and Merit.

Adriana supported and cared for her family and friends in an exceptional manner. This can best be seen through the successes of her family members — her husband, a world-renowned immunologist, her daughter Elena, the physician head of an Obstetrics and Gynecology practice in Chicago, her son Ariel the co-managing partner of the Boston office of Seyfarth Shaw, and her daughter Merit, the chief of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her children credit their success to the guidance, encouragement, wisdom, and love of Adriana. She will be remembered for her unwavering ability to see people clearly and to advise those she loved candidly. Demonstrating a strong devotion to those who touched her life, Adriana remained life-long friends with fellow survivors of the war, esteemed colleagues and friends from her time in Buffalo and Boston. If you were lucky enough to have Adriana as your family or friend, it is certain that you would be blessed to have her help in figuring out your strength and how to share that strength with the world.

Loving mother of Elena (and Perry) Kamel, Ariel (and Joanne) Cudkowicz and Merit Cudkowicz (and Eugene Sorets). Devoted grandmother of Leslie, Jonathon and Aaron Kamel, Alex and Tali Sorets and Daniel Cudkowicz. Adriana will live on in our hearts and in our deeds.