Abraham Luxemburg | |
|---|---|
אברהם לוכסמבורג | |
| Born | c. 1800s Warsaw,Russian Empire |
| Died | c. 1870s Berlin,German Empire |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Occupation | Businessperson |
| Movement | Haskalah |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 10 (includingEdward Luxemburg) |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Rosa Luxemburg (granddaughter) |
Abraham Luxemburg was aPolishbusinessperson and patron of theHaskalah (Jewish Enlightenment). Having made his wealth in thetimber industry inZamość, Luxemburg supported the movements ofReform Judaism andJewish assimilation, overseeing his own family's integration into Polish society. He was married three times and had ten children, includingEdward Luxemburg, the father ofRosa Luxemburg.
Abraham Luxemburg was born inWarsaw in the early 19th century, the son of Elisza and Szayndla Luxemburg, a poorPolish Jewish couple. He came into the world at a time when the Polish capital was occupied by theRussian Empire and Polish Jews faced increasing levels ofantisemitism. In 1828, Luxemburg married Chana Zslam and moved toZamość, a city with a predominantly Jewish population.[1] When theNovember Uprising broke out in 1830, a number of Luxemburg's friends, includingYehoshua Margolis, supported the insurrection. But as he was still a newlywed and taking care of his pregnant wife, Luxemburg himself was not prominantly involved.[2] During the rising, Chana gave birth to their first child,Edward Luxemburg.[3] After the uprising was suppressed, many Jewish families fled the city to escape an antisemitic pogrom which was perpetrated by theImperial Russian Army.[4]
Luxemburg himself established a successfultimber business in Zamość and developed links with both the Russian east and German west.[5] His business notably gained clients in theGerman cities ofBerlin,Danzig,Hamburg andLeipzig,[6] and he also did business with the Imperial Russian Army.[7] His business made him a wealthy man, which allowed him to raise his family'ssocial status[8] and to support the nascent rise ofReform Judaism.[9]I. L. Peretz later described him as one of the wealthiest men in the city.[10] With his wealth, he provided financial backing to theHaskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) in Zamość. During the 1830s, he oversaw a "golden age" in the cultural movement, notably contributing to the publication ofFeivel Schiffer's 1840 novelHazrot ha-Shir.[11] At the time, members of theHaskalah sought to teach Jews how to speak Polish in order to promoteJewish assimilation.[3] Luxemburg oversaw the assimilation of his own family into Polish society.[12] Luxemburg spoke theYiddish andPolish languages, and taught his children both languages as well.[3] Breaking withOrthodox Judaism,[13] and gravitating closer toPolish nationalism, Luxemburg encouraged his children to consider themselvesPolish people, to speak the Polish language and to immerse themselves inPolish culture.[9] He also provided his sons with aneducation inPrussia.[14]
Luxemburg had seven more children with Chana: Leyba Ber (b. 1833), Max (b. 1836), Maier (b. 1838), Tema (b. 1842), Leonora (b. 1842) and Julian (b. 1844).[15] After Chana died in 1848, Luxemburg married Amalia Lewinsztajn, a Rabbi's daughter fromMiędzyrzecz. After giving birth to two children, Amalia also died in 1861. Luxemburg then married her younger sister, Golda Lewinsztajn, but she too died only a year later. In 1862, Luxemburg sold his house in Zamość to his son Edward and moved back to Warsaw.[3] The following year, the repression of theJanuary Uprising caused him to lose much of his money and forced him to flee the country.[7] In the 1870s or 1880s, he died in Berlin.[3] His son Edward inherited his timber business,[16] and continued his work of supporting Jewish assimilation.[17]