Lillian Oppenheimer

Lillian Vorhaus Oppenheimer (née Lillian Rose Vorhaus, formerly Lillian Vorhaus Kruskal; October 24, 1898 – July 24, 1992) was an origami pioneer from New York City. Becoming a leading figure in the art form in her later years, Oppenheimer is credited with popularizing it in the United States. She adopted the Japanese word origami instead of the English paper folding, and the foreign term became established in the English language due to her efforts.

In 1928, Oppenheimer entertained her sick daughter with a paper folding book. She only picked it up again as a hobby with her friend, Frieda Lourie, in 1953. When she read Robert Harbin's Paper Magic (1956) in 1957, it changed her perception of paper folding (origami) from an isolated pastime to an art form in its own right. She began corresponding with prominent figures in origami such as Akira Yoshizawa, and, with Lourie, began to teach it professionally. In 1958, Oppenheimer and her art form received widespread publicity across the United States after The New York Times ran an article about her. She started informal lessons in New York City, dubbing the group "the Origami Center".

In 1980, she and her colleagues established the non-profit sister organization The Friends of The Origami Center of America. It was renamed OrigamiUSA in 1994 and remains the nation's main origami organization, with many regional branches.