Isidor Straus est né le 6 février 1845 à Otterberg, Palatinate, Kingdom of Bavaria [aujourd'hui Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany]. Il était marié à Rosalie Ida Straus. Il est mort le 15 avril 1912 à North Atlantic Ocean.
Refused to enter a lifeboat on the "Titanic" when it was sinking, because there were still women on the ship and he wanted them to board first. He prompted his wife Rosalie to enter a lifeboat, but she refused as well, reportedly stating that "I will not be separated from my husband. As we have lived, so will we die together".
