Claudia Zaslavsky

Zaslavsky died of pancreatic cancer in Harlem, New York, on January 13, 2006, survived by her husband Sam and their two sons.

She pursued postgraduate study in mathematics education at Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1974–1978. During that time she sought to learn about mathematics in Africa to better capture the interest of the African-American students in her classes.

In the 1950's while raising her children she was the bookkeeper at Chelsea Publishing Co. and taught pre-instrument classes to small children.

Zaslavsky was a lifelong activist for civil rights, peace and social justice. She also mentored many new scholars and activists in the field of ethnomathematics, always remembering the importance of discovering and recognizing the mathematical accomplishments of groups currently underrepresented, including women. As a Jew, Zaslavsky had experienced her own struggles with discrimination against women and Jewish people during her formative years in the 1930's and 1940's.

Claudia Zaslavsky (January 12, 1917 – January 13, 2006) was an American mathematics teacher and ethnomathematician.

She was born Claudia Natoma Cohen (later changed to Cogan) on January 12, 1917 in Upper Manhattan in New York City and grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She attributed her first interest in mathematics to her early childhood experiences when she helped her parents in their dry goods store.