Isidor Straus (February 6, 1845 – April 15, 1912) was an American politician and businessman, who was a co-owner of Macy's department store with his brother Nathan. He served just over a year as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the state of New York.
Straus was born in Germany but immigrated to the United States with his family when he was nine, settling in Georgia. During the American Civil War, Straus was on the side of the Confederate States of America and though he was not allowed to serve in the Confederate Army, he worked on their behalf in England. After the Civil War ended, the family moved to New York City where he and his brother began their business career.
Straus died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic, along with his wife Ida who refused to leave the ship without her husband. His body was recovered from the site of the wreck and buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery.
Isidor Straus was born on February 6, 1845, into a Jewish family in Otterberg in the former Palatinate, then ruled by the Kingdom of Bavaria. He was the first of five children of Lazarus Straus (1809–1898) and his second wife and first cousin, Sara Straus (1823–1876). His siblings were Hermine (1846–1922), Nathan (1848–1931), Jakob Otto (1849–1851) and Oscar Solomon Straus (1850–1926). In 1854 he and his family immigrated to the United States, following his father, Lazarus, who immigrated two years before. They settled first in Columbus, Georgia, and then lived in Talbotton, Georgia, where their house still exists today.
Straus was preparing to go to the United States Military Academy at West Point when the outbreak of the American Civil War prevented him from doing so. In 1861, he was elected an officer in a Confederate military unit but was not allowed to serve because of his youth; in 1863, he went to England to secure ships for blockade running. Straus worked as an aide to a London-based Confederate agent while living in England, as well as a Confederate bond salesman in both London and Amsterdam.
After the Civil War, the Straus family moved to New York City, where Lazarus convinced Rowland Hussey Macy, founder of Macy's, to allow L. Straus & Sons to open a crockery department in the basement of his store.
Straus worked at L. Straus & Sons, which became the glass and china department at Macy's. In 1888, he and Nathan became partners of Macy's. In 1893, the brothers bought a controlling interest in Wechsler & Straus, renamed Abraham & Straus. By 1896, Isidor and his brother Nathan had gained full ownership of R. H. Macy & Co.
In 1871, Straus married Rosalie Ida Blün (1849–1912). They were parents to seven children (one of whom died in infancy):
Jesse Isidor Straus (1872–1936), who married Irma Nathan (1877–1970), and served as U.S. Ambassador to France, 1933–1936
Clarence Elias Straus (1874–1876), who died in infancy
Percy Selden Straus (1876–1944), who married Edith Abraham (1882–1957), daughter of Abraham Abraham
Sara Straus (1878–1960), who married Dr. Alfred Fabian Hess (1875–1933)
Minnie Straus (1880–1940), who married Dr. Richard Weil (1876–1917)
Herbert Nathan Straus (1881–1933), who married Therese Kuhn in 1907 (1884–1977)
Vivian Straus (1886–1967) first married Herbert Adolph Scheftel (1875–1914) with whom she had two of her three children and second, in 1917, married George A. Dixon Jr. (1891–1956).
Among his great-great-granddaughters are singer Mikaela Mullaney Straus, known by her stage name King Princess, and Wendy Rush (née Weil), the widow of Stockton Rush who founded the deep sea tourism company OceanGate and lost his life on a dive in a submersible in 2023 to the wreck of the Titanic.
Straus served as a U.S. Congressman from January 30, 1894, to March 3, 1895, representing New York's 15th congressional district as a Democrat. He won a special election in January 1894 to complete the term of Ashbel P. Fitch, who had resigned to become New York City Comptroller. During his one-year term, Straus was a champion of tariff reform, opposing the high rates of the McKinley Tariff and collaborating with West Virginia Congressman William Lyne Wilson on the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act. Straus did not run for re-election in the general election of November 1894.
Straus was president of The Educational Alliance and a prominent worker in charitable and educational movements, very much interested in civil service reform and the general extension of education. He declined the office of Postmaster General which was offered him by U.S. President Grover Cleveland.