Career
She popularized origami in the West starting in the 1950s, and is credited with popularizing the Japanese term origami in English-speaking circles, which gradually supplanted the literal translation paper folding that had been used earlier. In the 1960s she co-wrote several popular books on origami with Shari Lewis. Oppenheimer was born to a Jewish family of Austrian, Hungarian, and Czechoslovakian origin, the daughter of Bernard Vorhaus, an attorney who made a living importing furs.
Oppenheimer is the mother of William, Molly, Rosaly, Martin, and Joseph.
The three sons were all prominent mathematicians.
