The Mendelssohn family are the descendants of Mendel of Dessau. The German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and his brother Saul were the first to adopt the surname Mendelssohn. The family includes his grandchildren, the composers Fanny and Felix.

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn was a significant figure in the Age of Enlightenment in Germany. Mendelssohn had ten children, of whom six lived to adulthood. Of those six children, only Recha and Joseph retained the Jewish religion. Abraham Mendelssohn, because of his conversion to Reformed Christianity, adopted the surname Bartholdy at the suggestion of his wife's brother, Jakob Salomon Bartholdy, 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.

Mendelssohn & Co. Bank In 1795 Moses Mendelssohn's eldest son Joseph established the bank Mendelssohn & Co. in Berlin, and his brother Abraham 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

Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), philosopher, married Fromet Guggenheim (1737–1812); 6 children Brendel Mendelssohn (1763–1839), married (i) Simon Veit, (ii) Friedrich von Schlegel Jonas Veit (1790–1854) Philipp Veit (1793–1877) Recha Mendelssohn (1767–1831) Joseph Mendelssohn (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 (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 (1863–1943), painter Anna Luise Block (1896–1982), publicist; married: (ii) (1901–1955), writer; (iii) Alfred Winslow Jones (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 (1852–1929), chemist Clara Oppenheim (1861–1944), married Adolf Gusserow (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, actor Francesco von Mendelssohn (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, 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 (1833–1890), psychiatrist Alexander Carl Otto Westphal (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 (1776–1835), banker, married Lea Salomon, granddaughter of Daniel Itzig; 4 children Fanny Hensel née Mendelssohn (1805–1847) composer, married Wilhelm Hensel (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 (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 (1860–1930), philosopher Kurt Hensel (1861–1941), mathematician Albert Hensel (1895–1933), law professor Ruth Hensel (1888–1979) Charlotte Hensel (1896–1990), married Werner Bergengruen (1892–1964), novelist Felix Mendelssohn (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 (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 (1898–1955) Dorothea Wach (1875–1949) married Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1874–1936), see above (D) Rebecka Mendelssohn (1811–1858) married Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (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 (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, married Charlotte "Lotte" Reichenheim 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 Daniel Itzig Arnold Mendelssohn (1817–1854), a political follower of Ferdinand Lassalle Ottilie Mendelssohn (1819–1848) married Ernst Kummer (1810–1893), mathematician Marie Elisabeth Kummer (1842–1921) married Hermann Schwarz (1843–1921), mathematician Wilhelm Mendelssohn (1821–1866) married Louise Aimee Cauer (sister to Bertha Cauer) Arnold Mendelssohn (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, mathematician, one of Philibert's grandchildren Heinrich Mendelssohn, biologist, also one of Philibert's grandchildren

Gallery Children of Moses and Fromet Mendelssohn:

Children of Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy:

Notes

References

External links

Guide to the Mendelssohn Family Papers at the Leo Baeck Institute New York.