His paternal grandfather was German Jewish physicist and mathematician Max Born (son of Gustav Jacob Born, an author and histologist). His paternal grandmother, Hedwig Ehrenberg, was of German Jewish descent on her own father (jurist Victor Ehrenberg)'s side, and of German descent on her own mother (Elise Marie von Jhering)'s side. Elise's father, Max's great-great-grandfather, was legal historian Rudolf von Jhering.
