Adam Lewenberg

Lewenberg-- Adam, M.D., beloved husband of Sonia, father of Ron and Ilana and her husband, Alec, and brother to Esther, Yael, Benjamin (predeceased), and Ann (predeceased). Born in Drohobycz, Poland, in 1932, Adam survived the Holocaust. In 1941, following the German invasion of Eastern Poland, Adam’s father, Maximilian Loewenberg, set up a factory as a front to hide and protect the Jews of the Drohobycz ghetto and to help as many Jews as possible escape with the help of local partisans. Maximilian secured oil for cars and handed out fake passports to Jews, aiding in their escape. Adam had to hide in the factory, staying for days in a cellar or silently hiding during the day in the dark hollow area under the staircase. In one incident, Adam hid under a desk while Nazi official stood over it, interrogating his father, knowing full well that his capture would have meant the death of himself, his family, and many of the Jews in the factory. During another surprise inspection, Adam was shot at while escaping. As protection against potential torture, Adam wore a vial of cyanide around his neck until the end of the war.

When the Germans became aware of the operation, his family was forced to flee to the woods, taking as many other Jews as possible with them. Even after their escape, Maximilian helped additional Jewish families flee to the forest with the help of the partisans. Adam’s job, even though he was only a small boy, was to search for food. He would forage in the woods. Winters were a time of severe hunger, as snow made foraging impossible for days at a time.

Following their liberation, Adam and his family moved to Stettin, Poland. In 1957, at the age of 24, he graduated from the Pomeranian Medical Society. In 1958, his family moved to Israel and he completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Pathology at Tel Hashomer Hospital. After his residency, Adam enlisted as a doctor in the Israel Defense Forces’ Navy for 30 months. At the end of his service, he then volunteered to serve as a physician on the front lines, at the isolated and precarious Israeli border station at Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, prior to the unification of Jerusalem. Adam then worked at private hospitals in Israel before becoming a physician on a cruise line operating between Los Angeles and Acapulco, Mexico. He then moved to the United States, where Adam had to redo his residency, finishing at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York.

After he finished his residency, Adam set up a private practice in Co-Op City, NY, and then in Manhattan. Adam was a pioneer in the treatment of addiction, pain management, and hair loss. In 1973, Adam traveled to Hong Kong, where he studied methods in acupuncture. He then self-funded research in combining electro-acupuncture with modern medicine. In the 1970s, based upon his research, Adam successfully began to treat drug, alcohol, and tobacco addiction. Adam served as president of the American Acupuncture Association.In 1983, Adam was invited to address the First International Conference on Acupuncture and Pain. The following year, he spoke at the 15th Annual Scientific-Medical Conference, which was held jointly by the American Medical Society on Alcoholism and the Alcoholism Forum of the National Council on Alcoholism. A synopsis of the lecture was published in “Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.” His research was published in Advances in Therapy, Clinical Therapeutics, and Journal of Acupuncture.

During his work with electro-acupuncture in the 1970s, Adam observed that wrinkles were reduced around areas stimulated by electro-acupuncture. He then began treating wrinkles with acupuncture, leading to national media interest in his novel treatment. His groundbreaking work in the use of acupuncture to treat wrinkles led him to work with tretinoin and novel cosmeceutical therapies.

In 1984, he became interested in hair treatment and started to make his own minoxidil solution a few years before other products came to market. He invented a special applicator to improve the absorption of minoxidil and continued to find ways to improve results with minoxidil. In 1986, Adam became a Life Member of the New York Academy of Sciences, That same year, he developed a way to mix minoxidil and tretinoin into a stable solution. In 1991, he published his findings in the international medical journal, Advances in Therapy.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Adam has been featured in magazine articles around the world. Adam’s work on acupuncture, cosmetic therapies, and addiction treatment have been featured in national publications, including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Gentlemen's Quarterly, Forbes, and national television programs, including Extra, as well as local newspapers. Additionally, his work has also been covered by journalists around the world.

In his private life, Adam was an avid reader primarily interested in history, finance, science, biographies, and politics. If he took out less than eight books a week from the library, the librarians were concerned. When not working or reading, he enjoyed playing chess and loved to spend time with and travel with his family, and insisting on traveling with them.

Funeral services will be held at "The Riverside Memorial Chapel" on 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. Donations in his memory may be made to The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, at 36 Battery Pl, New York, NY 10280.