Yahoo Finance Paul Schatzberger obituary
My friend Paul Schatzberger, who has died aged 70 of kidney cancer, was a visionary GP, a brilliant musician and fine photographer whose work was exhibited in galleries from Sheffield to Havana.
Paul started out as a family doctor in 1978 at the Adelaide Road practice in Swiss Cottage, north London. In 1983 he moved to Birley Moor health centre, Sheffield, which had a strong progressive ethos, and later to Upwell Street surgery in a deprived area of the city. He also trained in public health, eventually, in 2003, becoming medical director for North Sheffield primary care trust.
Born in Manchester, Paul was the son of Marc Schatzberger, an electrical engineer, and his wife, Rosl (nee Fried), a social worker. Both had been child refugees from wartime Austria. Paul’s grandparents died in Auschwitz.
He attended Manchester grammar school and studied medicine at University College London, graduating in 1973. A violinist, he led the UCL orchestra, in which Angie Rosenthal led the cellos. They married in 1980 in Hackney.
As a friend Paul was loyal, supportive, generous and fun. I got to know him in 1992 on a health workers’ trip to Cuba to explore aspects of the country’s medical service. Paul was moved by the spirit of commitment and creativity of the staff and patients in spite of economic difficulties. He photographed the trip and his pictures, later exhibited at galleries in Sheffield, Edinburgh and Havana, radiate compassion and respect.
Back in the UK, he continued with his photography, making a series of images of inner-city Sheffield, including of a GP’s bedside visit and of a home birth. His warm, sensitive and unobtrusive presence gave him access to key moments in people’s lives.
Paul retired from medicine in 2007 and devoted himself to his music and photography. An excellent violinist, he played in the Hallam Sinfonia and the European Doctors’ Orchestra. In autumn last year he performed in virtual ensembles during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He supported a young people’s ceilidh band, which his youngest daughter joined as as a violinist. His talent and enthusiasm for sharing music took him from major concert halls to street festivals and into the homes of family and friends, playing everything from Mozart trios to experimental jazz, folk and klezmer.
He is survived by Angie, their children, Tom, Katy and Rebecca, six grandchildren, his parents and a sister.
