Simon Veit
Simon Veit (born May 25, 1754 ; died October 1, 1819 ) was a Berlin merchant and banker.
Life
His father Juda Veit was a cotton manufacturer and founder of a bank. The paternal grandfather was an Kurhessischer Landrabbi in Witzenhausen, the maternal grandfather the founder of the first velvet factory in Prussia . He came from one of the fifty Jewish families who were expelled from Vienna in the 17th century and who settled in Brandenburg at the invitation of the Great Elector . The family belonged to the Jewish upper class and had one of the rare letters of protection that also granted the descendants the right of residence ( general privileges ). Simon Veit is best known as the first husband of Brendel Mendelssohn, who later became Dorothea Schlegel , and as the father of famous sons Johannes and Philipp Veit . Moses Mendelssohn had chosen the husband for his daughter, he valued Simon Veit, who also attended his "morning hours" and who, since he had the letter of protection, could offer his daughter security.
Simon Veit and Brendel Mendelssohn were engaged in 1778 and married in 1783. Brendel gave birth to four children, two of whom survived: Jonas was born in 1790 and Philipp in 1793. Both converted to Catholicism like their mother and became famous as painters ( Nazarenes ). After fourteen years of unhappy marriage, Brendel divorced in 1799 and lived first in a wild, then in a Protestant and finally in a Catholic marriage with Friedrich Schlegel . Simon Veit kept his older son, Jonas (later Johannes), with him, while Philipp, who grew up with his mother, moved in with his father when he was 15. Simon Veit has not converted. He has financially supported both his ex-wife and sons for a long time. He was a member of the stock exchange corporation, supported David Friedländer's proposals for the reorganization of Jewish worship, supported poor relatives and the gentile poor. After Moses Mendelssohn's death, Simon Veit was an advisor and supporter to his wife Fromet; an enlightened, tolerant Jewish merchant and benefactor.
literature
- Heinrich Graetz : History of the Jews from the oldest times to the present . Revised from the sources, 11 volumes, 1853–1875
- Felix Gilbert (Ed.): Bankers, Artists and Scholars. Unpublished letters from the Mendelssohn family from the 19th century . Tübingen 1975, ISBN 3-16-836362-6
- Sebastian Hensel (Ed.): The Mendelssohn Family 1729–1847. Frankfurt / M. 1995, ISBN 978-0-543-92228-1
- Jews in Prussia. A chapter of German history . Dortmund 1981
- Carola Stern: I want to have wings. The life of Dorothea Schlegel . Reinbek 1993
- Thomas Lackmann: The luck of the Mendelssohns, story of a German family . Berlin 2007
- Hazel Rosenstrauch : Simon Veit. The disregarded husband of a famous woman . Mannheim 2019
Web links
- Simon Veit in the German biography
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Veit, Simon |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Berlin merchant and banker |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 25, 1754 |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 1, 1819 |