Charlotte Ruegger

Charlotte Ruegger (17 November 187616 June 1959) was a Swiss composer, conductor, violinist, and music educator who taught at several colleges in the United States. She received Belgium’s Medal for Bravery for her service during World War I. Early life Ruegger was born in Lucerne to a musical family. Her father Julius was a government official. Her mother was a music teacher, her sister Elsa Ruegger was known as the “world’s best cello player”, and her sister Valeria taught piano. The family moved to Belgium during Ruegger’s childhood, and she graduated from the University of Brussels at age 16, although girls were not awarded diplomas at the time. She won first prize in violin at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, then continued postgraduate work in Italy at the University of Florence and in Berlin at the Stern Conservatory. Her teachers included Jean-Baptiste Colyns, Cesar Thomson (she also worked as his assistant), and Florian Zajic. Career Ruegger presented violin recitals throughout Belgium, France, Germany, and Switzerland before going to America in 1913, where she taught violin at Oberlin Conservatory. In 1926, she was a faculty member of the summer assembly at Bay