In the turmoil of the invasion of Hungary by the Red Army, the Temesy family left the country and settled in the Styrian capital Graz in eastern Austria, where the young Eva resumed her secondary education at BRG II for Girls in 1946 - from which she graduated with distinction in 1949.
Her doctoral thesis, entitled The Polytypic Species Saxifraga stellaris Linné , which she wrote under the guidance of Professor Felix Joseph Widder, earned her in 1954 the degree of Ph.D. Sub auspiciis Praesidentis - the highest honour which may be bestowed by the Austrian University system.
From January 1, 1965 to December 1, 1970 Schönbeck-Temesy worked on a research fellowship and then up until March 30, 1973 on an Arbeitsauftrag in the botany department of the Natural History Museum, Vienna under the Directorship of Professor Karl Heinz Rechinger.
Schönbeck-Temesy benefitted greatly, during her academic career, from her polyglotism : in addition to her mother tongues of Hungarian and German she was also fluent in English, French, Italian, and Russian.
[2] Dr. Schönbeck-Temesy's eldest daughter, Dr. Susanne Grass-Schönbeck, is maintaining the family tradition of scientific excellence, albeit in the unrelated field of pulmonology.