The Mendelssohn family are the descendants of Mendel of

Dessau Dessau is a district of the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent ...

. The

German Jew The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

ish philosopher

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...

and his brother Saul were the first to adopt the surname Mendelssohn. The family includes his grandchildren, the composers

Fanny Mendelssohn Fanny Mendelssohn (14 November 1805 – 14 May 1847) was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era who was known as Fanny Hensel after her marriage. Her compositions include a string quartet, a piano trio, a piano quartet, an or ...

and Felix.

Moses Mendelssohn

Moses Mendelssohn was a significant figure in the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...

in Germany. Mendelssohn had ten children, of whom six lived to adulthood. Of those six children, only Recha and

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

retained the

Jewish religion Judaism () is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the Mosaic covenant, which the ...

Abraham Mendelssohn Abraham Ernst Mendelssohn Bartholdy (born Abraham Mendelssohn; 10 December 1776 – 19 November 1835) was a German Jewish banker and philanthropist. He was the father of Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn, Rebecka Mendelssohn, and Paul Mendel ...

, because of his conversion to

Reformed Christianity Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian ...

, adopted the surname Bartholdy at the suggestion of his wife's brother,

Jakob Salomon Bartholdy __NOTOC__ Jakob Ludwig Salomon Bartholdy (13 May 1779 – 27 July 1825) was a Prussian diplomat and art patron. Life He was born Jakob Salomon in Berlin of Jewish parentage. His father was Levin Jakob Salomon and his mother was Bella Salomon, n� ...

, who had adopted the name from a property owned by the Salomon family. Mendelssohn's wife, Fromet (Frumet) Guggenheim, was a great-granddaughter of

Samuel Oppenheimer Samuel Oppenheimer (21 June 1630 – 3 May 1703) was an Ashkenazi Jewish banker, imperial court diplomat, factor, and military supplier for the Holy Roman Emperor. He enjoyed the special favor of Emperor Leopold I, to whom he advanced consider ...

Mendelssohn & Co. Bank

In 1795 Moses Mendelssohn's eldest son

established the bank Mendelssohn & Co. in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and his brother

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

joined the company in 1804. Many members of the family worked for the bank until it was forced to shut down in 1938. In 2004 relatives of the banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1875–1935), led by his great-nephew Julius H. Schoeps (born 1942), tried to reclaim paintings once owned by him and later sold in the 1940s by his widow, in breach of his will.

Mendelssohn family

Descendants of

* Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), philosopher, married Fromet Guggenheim (1737–1812); 6 children ** Brendel Mendelssohn (1763–1839), married (i)

Simon Veit Simon Veit (25 May 1754, Brandenburg? - 1 October 1819, Berlin?) was a German merchant and banker of Jewish ancestry. Life and work His father, Juda Veit (1710–1786), was a wool merchant and founder of a bank. At Simon was several brothes an ...

, (ii)

Friedrich von Schlegel Karl Wilhelm Friedrich (after 1814: von) Schlegel ( ; ; 10 March 1772 – 12 January 1829) was a German literary critic, philosopher, and Indologist. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was one of the main figures of Jena Roma ...

*** Jonas Veit (1790–1854) ***

Philipp Veit Philipp Veit (13 February 179318 December 1877) was a German Romantic painter and one of the main exponents of the Nazarene movement. It is to Veit that the credit of having been the first to revive the nearly forgotten technique of fresc ...

(1793–1877) ** Recha Mendelssohn (1767–1831) **

Joseph Mendelssohn Joseph Mendelssohn (11 August 1770 – 24 November 1848) was a German Jews, German Jewish banker. He was the eldest son of the influential philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. In 1795, he founded his own banking house. In 1804, his younger brother, Ab ...

(1770–1848), banker *** Benjamin (Georg) Mendelssohn (1794–1874), geographer *** Alexander Mendelssohn (1798–1871), banker, married Marianne Seeligmann (1799–1880) **** Marie Mendelssohn (1822–1891), married Robert Warschauer (1816–1884), banker ***** Anna Warschauer (1841–1866), married

Ludwig Passini Ludwig Johann Passini (1832–1903), sometimes Ludovico Passini, was an Austrians, Austrian Narrative art, narrative and Genre art, genre painter and printmaker. Personal life Ludwig Passini was born on 9 July 1832 in Vienna, the ...

(1832–1903), painter ***** Marie Warschauer (1855–1906), married Ernst von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1846–1909) see below (A) **** Margarete Mendelssohn (1823–1890), married Otto Georg Oppenheim (1817–1909), jurist ***** Hugo Oppenheim (1847–1921), banker, married Anna Oppenheim (1849–1931) ****** Else Oppenheim (1873–1945), married

Josef Block Josef Block (27 November 1863 – 20 December 1943) was a German painter. Life and career Block was born in Bernstadt an der Weide (Bierutów) in Prussian Silesia. He was a scholar of the Breslau (Wrocław) Art Academy, where his lifelong frie ...

(1863–1943), painter ******* Anna Luise Block (1896–1982), publicist; married: (ii) (1901–1955), writer; (iii)

Alfred Winslow Jones Alfred Winslow Jones (9 September 1900 – 2 June 1989) was an American investor, hedge fund manager, and sociologist. He is credited with forming the first modern hedge fund and is widely regarded as the "father of the hedge fund industry." E ...

(1900–1989), hedge fund pioneer ****** Robert Hugo Oppenheim (1882–1956), banker married (i) Charlotte Simon; (ii) Ehrentraut Margaret Von Ilberg; 4 children Hugo Oppenheim, Alexander Oppenheim, Imogene Oppenheim, Roberta Marielouise Oppenheim *****

Franz Oppenheim Franz Oppenheim (born 13 July 1852 in Charlottenburg; died 13 February 1929 in Cairo) was a German chemist and industrialist who mainly worked for the Agfa company (now Agfa-Gevaert). His father was German jurist and his mother was Margarethe M ...

(1852–1929), chemist ***** Clara Oppenheim (1861–1944), married

Adolf Gusserow Adolf Ludwig Sigismund Gusserow (Berlin, 8 July 1836 – Berlin, 8 February 1906) was a German gynecologist who was a native of Berlin. He married Clara Oppenheim (1861–1944), a descendant of Berlin banker Joseph Mendelssohn. Gusserow began his ...

(1836–1906), gynecologist **** Franz von Mendelssohn (1829–1889), banker ***** Robert von Mendelssohn (1857–1917), banker, married , pianist ****** Eleonora von Mendelssohn (1900–1951), actress, married

Martin Kosleck Martin Kosleck (born Nicolaie Yoshkin; March 24, 1904 – January 15, 1994) was a German film actor. Like many other German actors, he fled when the Nazi Germany, Nazis came to power. Inspired by his deep hatred of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis ...

, actor ******

Francesco von Mendelssohn Francesco von Mendelssohn (born Franz von Mendelssohn; 6 September 1901 – 22 September 1972) was a German cellist and art collector. He also became known during the 1920s as a stage actor and theater director. He acquired additional notability w ...

(1901–1972), cellist, theatre director ***** Franz von Mendelssohn (1865–1935), banker, married Maria Westphal (1867–1957), see below (B) ****** Lilli von Mendelssohn (1897–1928), violinist, married

Emil Bohnke Emil Bohnke (11 October 1888 – 11 May 1928) was a German Viola, violist, composer and Conducting, conductor active in Berlin. Life Born in Zduńska Wola near Łódź, Poland, Emil Bohnke was the son of textile manufacturer Ferdinand Bohnke. Fro ...

, violist and composer ******* Robert-Alexander Bohnke (1927–2005), pianistProfile of Robert-Alexander Bohnke
Bach Cantatas website. Retrieved on 14 May 2009. ****** Robert von Mendelssohn (1902–1996), banker **** Clara Mendelssohn (1840–1927), married

Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal (23 March 1833 – 27 January 1890) was a German psychiatrist from Berlin. He was the son of Otto Carl Friedrich Westphal (1800–1879) and Karoline Friederike Heine and the father of Alexander Karl Otto Westphal (18 ...

(1833–1890), psychiatrist *****

Alexander Carl Otto Westphal Alexander Carl Otto Westphal (18 May 1863, Berlin – 9 January 1941, Bonn) was a German neurologist and psychiatrist. He was the son of the psychiatrist Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal (1833–1890) and Clara Mendelssohn and the grandson of Ot ...

(1863–1941), neurologist ***** Anna Westphal (1864–1943), married Eduard Sonnenburg (1848–1915), doctor ***** Marie Westphal (1867–1957), married Franz von Mendelssohn (1865–1935), see above (B) ** Henriette (Maria) Mendelssohn (1775–1831) **

Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy Abraham Ernst Mendelssohn Bartholdy (born Abraham Mendelssohn; 10 December 1776 – 19 November 1835) was a German Jewish banker and philanthropist. He was the father of Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn, Rebecka Mendelssohn, and Paul Mendels ...

(1776–1835), banker, married Lea Salomon, granddaughter of

Daniel Itzig Daniel Itzig (also known as Daniel Yoffe; 18 March 1723 in Berlin – 17 May 1799 in Potsdam) was a court Jew of Kings Frederick II and Frederick William II of Prussia. Biography Itzig was born in Berlin. His family was mercantile. Itzig wa ...

; 4 children ***

(1805–1847) composer, married

Wilhelm Hensel Wilhelm Hensel (6 July 1794 – 26 November 1861) was a German painter, brother of Luise Hensel, husband to Fanny Mendelssohn, and brother-in-law to Felix Mendelssohn. Life and career Wilhelm Hensel was born on 6 July 1794 in the German tow ...

(1794–1861) **** Sebastian Ludwig Felix Hensel (1830–1898) married Julie von Adelson ***** Fanny Römer, née Hensel (1857–1891) ***** Cécile Hensel (1858–1928) married

Friedrich Leo Friedrich Leo (July 10, 1851 – January 15, 1914) was a German classical philologist born in Regenwalde, in the then- province of Pomerania (present-day Resko, Poland). Academic career From 1868 he was a student at the University of Göttinge ...

(1851–1914) ****** Erika Leo (1887–1949) married Walther Brecht ****** Ulrich Leo (1890–1964), Literary scientist ****** Paul Leo (1893–1958), Lutheran pastor and theologian, married 1.: Anna Siegert († 1931), 2.: Eva Dittrich (1901–1998) ******* Anna Leo (born 1931), Children's author ******* Christopher Leo (born 1941), political scientist ******* Monica Leo (born 1944), puppeteer *****

Paul Hensel Paul Hugo Wilhelm Hensel (17 May 1860, Gvardeysky District, Groß-Barthen, Province of Prussia – 11 November 1930, Erlangen) was a German philosopher. Biography Hensel was born in Gvardeysky District, Groß-Barten (now in Gvardeysky District ...

(1860–1930), philosopher *****

Kurt Hensel Kurt Wilhelm Sebastian Hensel (29 December 1861 – 1 June 1941) was a German mathematician born in Königsberg. Life and career Hensel was born in Königsberg, Province of Prussia (today Kaliningrad, Russia), the son of Julia (née von Adelson ...

(1861–1941), mathematician ****** Albert Hensel (1895–1933), law professor ****** Ruth Hensel (1888–1979) ****** Charlotte Hensel (1896–1990), married

Werner Bergengruen Werner Bergengruen (September 16, 1892 – September 4, 1964) was a Baltic German novelist and poet. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Life and career Bergengruen was born in Riga, Governorate of Livonia, which at that tim ...

(1892–1964), novelist ***

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

(Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy) (1809–1847), composer married Cécile Charlotte Sophie Jeanrenaud (1817–1853) **** (1838–1897), historian ***** Cécile von Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1870–1943), married Otto von Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1868–1949), see below (C) ***** (1874–1936), law professor, married Dorothea Wach (1875–1949), see below (D) **** Marie Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1839–1897) ****

Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy (born Paul Felix Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy; 18 January 1841, Leipzig – 17 February 1880, Berlin) was a German chemist and a pioneer in the manufacture of aniline dye. He co-founded the Aktien-Gesellschaft für Ani ...

(1841–1880), chemist ***** (1868–1949), banker, married Cécile Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1870–1943), see above (C) ***** Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1879–1956), chemist **** Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1843–1850) **** Elisabeth Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1845–1910) married Adolf Wach ***** Felix Wach (1871–1943) ******

Joachim Wach Joachim Ernst Adolphe Felix Wach (; January 25, 1898 – August 27, 1955) was a German religious scholar from Chemnitz, who emphasized a distinction between the Religious Studies (Religionswissenschaft) and the philosophy of religion. Wach ...

(1898–1955) ***** Dorothea Wach (1875–1949) married Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1874–1936), see above (D) ***

Rebecka Mendelssohn Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (; ; 13 February 1805 – 5 May 1859) was a German mathematician. In number theory, he proved special cases of Fermat's last theorem and created analytic number theory. In analysis, he advanced the theory o ...

(1811–1858) married

Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (; ; 13 February 1805 – 5 May 1859) was a German mathematician. In number theory, he proved special cases of Fermat's last theorem and created analytic number theory. In analysis, he advanced the theory o ...

(1805–1859), mathematician **** Walter Lejeune Dirichlet (1833–1887) married Anna Sachs (1835–1889) ***** Elisabeth Lejeune-Dirichlet (1860–1920) married Heinrich Nelson (1854–1929), lawyer ******

Leonard Nelson Leonard Nelson (; ; 11 July 1882 – 29 October 1927), sometimes spelt Leonhard, was a German mathematician, critical philosopher, and socialist. He was part of the neo-Friesian school (named after post-Kantian philosopher Jakob Friedrich Frie ...

(1882–1927), philosopher *** Paul Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1812–1874), banker, married Pauline Louise Albertine Heine (1814–1879) **** Ernst von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1846–1909), banker, married Marie Warschauer (1855–1906), see above (A) ***** Katharine von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1870–1943) ***** Charlotte von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1871–1961) ***** Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1875–1935), banker ***** Enole Marie von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1879–1947), married Albert Constantin, Graf von Schwerin (1870–1956), diplomat, had issue ***** Marie Busch (1881–1970), married Felix Busch (1871–1938), state official ****** Dorothea Busch (1915–1996), married Hans-Joachim Schoeps (1909–1980), theologian ******* Julius H. Schoeps (born 1942), historian ***** Alexander von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1889–1917) ** Nathan Mendelssohn (1781–1852) instrument maker, married Henrietta Itzig, cousin of Lea Soloman and granddaughter of

*** Arnold Mendelssohn (1817–1854), a political follower of

Ferdinand Lassalle Ferdinand Johann Gottlieb Lassalle (born Lassal; 11 April 1825 – 31 August 1864) was a German jurist, philosopher, socialist, and political activist. Remembered as an initiator of the German labour movement, he developed the theory of state s ...

*** Ottilie Mendelssohn (1819–1848) married

Ernst Kummer Ernst Eduard Kummer (29 January 1810 – 14 May 1893) was a German mathematician. Skilled in applied mathematics, Kummer trained German army officers in ballistics; afterwards, he taught for 10 years in a '' gymnasium'', the German equivalent of h ...

(1810–1893), mathematician **** Marie Elisabeth Kummer (1842–1921) married

Hermann Schwarz Karl Hermann Amandus Schwarz (; 25 January 1843 – 30 November 1921) was a German mathematician, known for his work in complex analysis. Life Schwarz was born in Hermsdorf, Silesia (now Sobieszów, Poland). In 1868 he married Marie Kummer ...

(1843–1921), mathematician *** Wilhelm Mendelssohn (1821–1866) married Louise Aimee Cauer (sister to Bertha Cauer) ****

Arnold Mendelssohn Arnold Ludwig Mendelssohn (26 December 1855 – 18 February 1933), was a German composer and music teacher. Life He was born in Ratibor, Province of Silesia, the son of Felix Mendelssohn's cousin Wilhelm Mendelssohn who, in 1854, had married ...

(1855–1933) composer, married Maria Cauer Descendants of Saul Mendelssohn include: *Philibert Mendelssohn, as a mathematician appointed as 'Koenigliche Rechnungsrat' in the Prussian State Survey :*

Kurt Mendelssohn Kurt Alfred Georg Mendelssohn FRS (7 January 1906, Berlin-Schoeneberg – 18 September 1980) was a German-born British medical physicist, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1951. Family life He was the only child of Ernst Moritz Mendel ...

, mathematician, one of Philibert's grandchildren :*Heinrich Mendelssohn, biologist, also one of Philibert's grandchildren

Gallery

Children of Moses and Fromet Mendelssohn: Image:Dorothea Schlegel.jpg, Dorothea von Schlegel née Mendelssohn c. 1790, by

Anton Graff Anton Graff (18 November 1736 – 22 June 1813) was a Swiss portrait artist. Among his famous subjects were Friedrich Schiller, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Heinrich von Kleist, Frederick the Great, Friederike Sophie Seyler, Johann Gottfried Herde ...

Image:Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy - Zeichnung von Wilhelm Hensel 1823.jpg,

, 1823, by his son-in-law,

Children of Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Image:Fanny Hensel 1842.jpg, Fanny Hensel née Mendelssohn, 1842, by

Moritz Daniel Oppenheim Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (7 January 1800 in Hanau, Germany – 26 February 1882 in Frankfurt am Main) was a German painter who is often regarded as the first Jewish painter of the modern era. His work was influenced by his cultural and religio ...

Image:Mendelssohn Bartholdy.jpg,

, 1829, by James Warren Childe Image:Rebecka Mendelssohn - Zeichnung von Wilhelm Hensel 1823.jpg,

, 1823, by Wilhelm Hensel

Notes

References

External links

*
Guide to the Mendelssohn Family Papers
at the

Leo Baeck Institute New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendelssohn Family Business families Jewish-German families