Father – Emil Christian Dietrich Strauss was born in Witzenhausen (Hessen, Germany) in 1829 to the parents of Herman Karl Strauss and Sofie Badenhausen. Emil Strauss graduated as a doctor of medicine and a surgeon from the University of Göttingen. As a medical doctor he participated in the Crimean and in the Caucasian Wars on the side of Russian Empire and was awarded with the Order of St. Anna (3rd Class).