Mr Emil Taussig is believed to have been born in Eisenbrod, Bohemia ¹ on 20 June 1857.²

He was the son of Solomon Joseph Taussig (1829-1896), a manufacturer of children's clothing, and Rosie Pick. His family were Jewish.  

He spent his childhood in Bohemia and/or Vienna and had two siblings: Annie (b. 1859, later Mrs Sigmund Cahn) and Jennie (1861-1938, later Mrs Abraham Klein).

His mother died at a young age and his father was remarried around 1863 to Charlotte Bundig (3) (1844-1906). From that union he gained six half-siblings: Rosa (1863-1931, later Mrs Moses Herman Mann, latterly Cohen), Olga (1868-1946, later Mrs Siegfried Lewisohn), Otto (b. 1870), Maximillian (1872-1878), Jacob (b. 1873) and Flora (b. 1875, later Mrs Emil Goodkind).

The family emigrated in 1866, leaving Hamburg aboard the Germania on 14 January that year,  settling in Manhattan with his father becoming naturalised in 1875. The family appeared in Manhattan on the 1880 census and Emil, then aged 23, was described as a store clerk. He later became President of the West Disinfecting Company in Buffalo, New York. Emil's 1912 passport describes him as standing at 5' 7½", with brown hair, a fair complexion and an oval face.

He was married on 18 January 1893 to Tillie Mandelbaum (b. 1872), the daughter of a New York tobacco merchant. Their only child, a daughter named Ruth, was born towards the end of 1893.

The family appear on the 1900 census as residents of 1335 Madison Avenue, Manhattan and Emil was described as a disinfectant manufacturer. By the 1910 census they are still residents of Madison Avenue, later living at 777 West End Avenue by 1912.

Following a visit to Vienna Emil, his wife and daughter boarded the Titanic at Southampton as first class passengers (joint ticket number 110413 which cost £79, 13s). Emil and his wife occupied cabin E67.

On the night of the sinking the Taussigs were reportedly alerted to the danger by German steward Alfred Theissinger, he telling them "You better put on your lifebelts and rush out on deck." "Is it as serious as all that?" asked Mr Taussig. "Yes, hurry" was Theissinger's reply.

Mr Taussig escorted his wife and daughter to a lifeboat (number 8) before standing back. He was lost in the sinking and his body, if recovered, was never identified.