Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita | |
|---|---|
 Self-portrait, 1900 | |
| Born | (1868-06-06)6 June 1868 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | c. 11 February 1944(1944-02-11) (aged 75) |
Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (6 June 1868 –c. 11 February 1944) was aDutch graphic artist active in the years before theSecond World War. His pupils included graphic artistM. C. Escher (1898–1972).[1] ASephardic Jew, in his old age he was sent toAuschwitz by the Nazis, where he was gassed along with his wife.
Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita was born on 6 June 1868 into aJewish family living inAmsterdam. Though a member of a tightly knitSephardic community, a minority among Dutch Jews, de Mesquita, like most of his contemporaries, was not religiously observant. His father, a secondary school teacher ofHebrew andGerman, died when Sam or Sampie, as he was called, was five.[2][3]
At the age of fourteen, the young de Mesquita applied to theRijksakademie in pursuit of his artistic interests, only to be rejected. Deeply disappointed, he apprenticed himself to an acting cityarchitect, for whom he worked for two years before entering a technical school with the intention of becoming an architect himself. He soon turned, however, topedagogy and, in 1889, received a teacher's certificate, which would later enable him to support his family.[2][3]
Over the next years, de Mesquita principally devoted himself to art, experimenting with various techniques and mediums. Though known primarily for hiswood engravings, he also producedetchings,lithographs,watercolors anddrawings; his applied art consisted mostly ofmaterial designs. There are birds, exotic animals, plants and flowers, and fantastical representations, both humorous and grim. Among de Mesquita's most beautiful works are his portraits, particularly his self-portraits.[2][3]
de Mesquita's work was included in the 1939 exhibition and saleOnze Kunst van Heden (Our Art of Today) at theRijksmuseum in Amsterdam.[4]
WithNazi Germany'sinvasion of theNetherlands in May 1940, de Mesquita, already in poor health, was forced to lead a secluded life, limiting his work largely to sketches.[2][3]
In the winter of 1944, on either 31 January or 1 February, the occupying German forces entered the home of the de Mesquita family inWatergraafsmeer, now part of Amsterdam, and apprehended him, his wife Elisabeth, and their only son Jaap. Transported toAuschwitz, Samuel Jessurun and Elisabeth were sent to thegas chambers within days of their arrival on 11 February; Jaap perished in theconcentration camp atTheresienstadt on 20 March. Escher and some of Jaap's friends were successful in rescuing some of the works that had remained in the de Mesquita home.[2][3]
Media related toSamuel Jessurun de Mesquita at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
