Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Robert or Ruben or Reuven Herzenberg

Male Abt 1826 - 1884  (~ 58 years)


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  • Name Robert or Ruben or Reuven Herzenberg 
    Born Abt 1826  Pilten (Piltene), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 24 Jul 1884  Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I3960  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father Joseph or Yosef or Jossel Herzenberg,   b. Abt 1809, Ventspils (Windau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1877, Kuldiga (Goldingen), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 69 years) 
    Mother Zippe,   b. Abt 1808, , Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1868, Kuldiga (Goldingen), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 61 years) 
    Married Bef 1825  of Pilten (Piltene), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F222  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Emilie or Amalie Kahn or Cahn,   b. Abt 1830,   d. 1903, Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 73 years) 
    Married Bef 1854  of Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Rosete or Rosa Herzenberg,   b. 14 Apr 1854, Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Nov 1862, Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 8 years)
     2. Seba Herzenberg,   b. Abt 1856, Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1859, Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 3 years)
     3. Fanny or Feige Herzenberg,   b. 26 Jul 1857, Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 31 Oct 1862, Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 5 years)
     4. Klara or Clara Herzenberg,   b. 4 Dec 1859, Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 17 Jun 1939, RÄ«ga, RÄ«ga, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 79 years)
     5. David Herzenberg,   b. 17 Jul 1864, Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Bef 1935, of Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age < 70 years)
     6. Alexander Herzenberg,   b. 16 Apr 1866, Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Abt 1934, Leipzig, Germany Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 67 years)
     7. Leonhard Herzenberg,   b. 24 Jul 1868, Jelgava (Mitau), Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. RÄ«ga, RÄ«ga, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location
     8. Helene Herzenberg,   b. Abt 1872, RÄ«ga, RÄ«ga, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Bef 1940  (Age ~ 67 years)
     9. Sara Herzenberg,   b. Abt 1878, of Mitau, Courland, Latvia Find all individuals with events at this location
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F1891  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. Per email of 17 Jul 2007 from Nina Kossman www.ninakossman.com . Nina is a descendant of Klara/Robert/Joseph/Lemchen/Joseph Herzenberg. Note that Mitau, Courland was part of the tsarist empire, but later it became known as Jelgava, Latvia.
      A. "A photograph of Klara Herzenberg (daughter of Robert Herzenberg) can be seen at <http://www.ninakossman.com/leonidkossman/brenson_herzenberg.html> [underscore between brenson and herzenberg]. It should also be noted that in Piltene, where our 18th century Herzenbergs lived, there is an old Jewish cemetery in which almost all are Herzenbergs." Nina is coordinating an effort to restore the Piltene cemetery and please contact her if you are able to assist financially.
      B. Children of Robert Herzenberg and Emilie Kahn:
      a. Daughter Rosete (Rosa), b. 14 Apr 1854 in Mitau, d. 2 Nov, 1862 in Mitau.
      b. Daughter Seba, b. abt. 1856, d. 1859 in Mitau.
      c. Daughter Feige/Fanny, b. 26 Jul 1857 in Mitau, d. 31 Oct 1862 in Mitau.
      d. Daughter Klara, b. 4 Dec 1859 in Mitau, m. 12 May 1883 in Mitau, d. 17 Jun 1939 in Riga. Husband Isidor (Isac-Aisak, Itzig), son of Isak-Aisik (Itzig, Isidor) Brensohn, b. 27 Sep 1854 in Mitau, d. 31 Dec. 1928 in Riga. (Photo of Isidor and Clara on file with me.) Of Isidor's and Clara's four children - Ruth, Ellen, Theo, and Robby, only one - Theo - survived the war as he was not living in Latvia at the time (photo of the four children on file with me).
      i. Ruth Brenson (1889-1941) was born in Yelgava, Latvia. While temporarily staying in Moscow she met Stephan Kossman, whom she married around 1910. she had two children: Nora (b. 1911) and Leonid (b. 1915). Ruth was killed by the Nazis in Riga, Latvia. (Photo of Ruth on file with me.) The family lived in Moscow, at Chistye Prudy 11, in a ten-room apartment in a five-story building; later they moved to an apartment on First Meschanskaya. Since Stephan Kossman was a merchant of the Frist Guild, it was no longer safe for his family to live in the city after the Bolshevik takeover. The Brenson-Kossman family left Moscow for Riga - where Ruth's father lived - in the beginning of 1918. Stephan Kossman was born in 1877. When he was about seven years old his father, Leontii Kossman, took him to live in London where Leonitii had started a fur business. After Leontii's death, Stephan took over the business. His job took him all over Europe and in the very beginning of the 20th century he lived in Leipzig for several years, in Berlin, in London, etc. He married Ruth Brenson in 1909 and came back to Moscow to live. Eight years later, following the October Revolution, the family left Russia. He died in Riga, Latvia, in 1928. This couple had two children: Leonid and Nora.
      1. Leonid Kossman is a philologist, writer, and teacher whose language textbooks have helped millions of people. Born in Moscow in 1915, as a child in Riga, Latvia, he spoke German and Russian at home and Latvian in the neighborhood. After graduating from a German high school he studied law at the University of Latvia and worked as a drama critic for a Latvian Newspaper, Tsinia. When the Nazis occupied Riga he escaped into Russia, soon joined the Soviet army, and was severely wounded. He spent the rest of the war in Kazakhstan where he slowly regained sight and movement. After the war he studied English and western literature at Moscow State University, graduated, and taught English and German at the Maurice Thorez Linguistics Institute (which later became the Moscow State Linguistics University, or MGLU). During this period his two textbooks for Russians learning German were published. With his wife and two children he emigrated to the US via Israel in 1972, and worked here as a college languages teacher and as a writer for the German-American Daily Staatszeitung and for the German-Jewish American weekly, Aufbau. In the late 1970s he started writing books to help other Russians in learning English. In authorized, and pirated, editions of these books have circulated very widely, and have even been adopted by American university Russian courses. Most recently he has been writing short stories and he published a historical novel "Above Water" in 2003 (the book deals with he effects of Nazism on the life of a Harry Rosen, a Latvian Jew).
      2. Nora.
      ii. Ellen was born 188? and died 1941; she was an orthopedic phsysician and he rhusband, Yakov Meltzer, was a pianist; they had a son Anatol and all three were killed by Germans in Nazi-occupied Latvia (photo of the three with son at age 6 on file.)
      e. Son David, b. 17 Jul 1864 in Mitau, m. 7 Jan 1890 in Mitau, d. bef 1935. Wife Sophia, dau. of Abram Herzenberg, b. 20 Aug 1869 in Mitau, d. 1941 in the "ghetto."
      f. Son Alexander, b. 16 Apr 1866 in Mitau.
      g. Son Leonhard, b. 24 Jul 1868 in Mitau.

      2. Archival Research Paper about Herzenberg Family prepared for Kerry Petersen 28 Feb 2011 and is report no. Nr. 3-P-272, 2816, 1927 N, by Latvijas Valsts Vestures Arhivs (Latvian National Archives), Slokas iela 16, Riga, LV-1007. Complete transcript is in the notes of Edouard/Elias Ocipovitch Herzenberg and the following is but a partial transcript:
      "The recruits' enlistment registers of the Jewish families belonging to Pilten for 1842, 1848, 1854, 1871, the revision lists of the Jewish families belonging to Pilten, set up on August 15 of 1851, the merchant's lists of Goldingen for 1868, 1874, 1875 contain the following information about Herzenberg family (we would like to draw your attention to the fact that very often the age of person was determined by their outward appearance and was stated in some documents rather approximately)...
      1.3.4. Jossel (Joseph), son of Lemchen Herzenberg, born in ca 1809 (aged 33 in 1842, aged 59 in 1868). His wife Zippe was horn in ca 1808 (aged 60 in 1868). The family of Jossel Herzenberg was registered in the petty bourgeois oklad in Pilten till 1851. In 1851 he with his family was registered as a merchant of 3rd guild in Piltene. Since 1862 and at least till 1877 Joseph, son of Lemchen Herzenberg and his family was registered in the merchant oklad of Goldingen (see merchants list of Goldingen for 1868). His sons...
      1.3.4.1. son Ruben (Robert), born in ca 1826. His wife Emilie (Amalie), daughter of David Kahn, born in ca 1830. They had at least seven children, born in Mitau...
      KP Note: Attachments: Image of revision list of Jewish families belonging to Pilten as of Aug. 15, 1851, showing oklad (tax) numbers: #362 Jossel Lemchen Herzenberg, his sons: #363 Ruben, #364 Laser, #365 Jacob, #366 Levin, and #367 Elias. Researcher includes interpretation comment: "They were transferred from the membership of petty bourgeois oklad of Pilten to the 3rd guild merchant of Pilten in 1851."

      3. Website of Peter Bruce Herzenberg of London, England (since relocated to South Africa). Website is no longer functioning as of 7 Aug 2007. Copies of much of his data from the website in my possession. His source HL is Leonardo Herzenberg. In regards to this individual:
      Name variations: Robert (Reuven)
      HL 103/009 shows b. Mitau, d. 24 Jul 1884, md. Cahn.

      4. Email from: "Nina Kossman" Aug 16, 2007 and Aug 19, 2007. She has memoirs written by Isidor Brenson in German. Currently it is being translated into Latvian by Riga's Museum of the History of Medicine. It is also being translated into English for Nina:
      Yes, I know of that family [David and Sophie Herzenberg]. In fact, I had stones installed in the Rumbuli forest in memory of Sophie Herzenberg and her two daughters, Yevgenia and Flora, as well as in memory of the daughters' husbands. In the latest installment (part 3) of the translation of my g.gfather's memoir there is a mention of a historical "Herzenberg" house (Herzenbergsche Haus) in Jelgava and, a few pages later, of his meeting, in the summer of 1872, a thirteen year girl, Clara Herzenberg (his future wife), in the home of her parents where he accepted a position as a tutor. But so far there isn't much detail about the Herzenbergs; only that years before 1872, as a seven and eight year old boy, he had played with Clara's little sisters, Rosa and Fanny, until his visits to the house were discontinued due to their illness (and subsequent death). There is a paragraph that describes the historical meaning of the Herzenberg House, yet it doesn't seem that the events that took place there in 1726 have anything to do with the Herzenbergs per se.
      Later email: "Here's the translation of the passage from my g.g.father's memoir which mentions the "Herzenberg House":
      "Among the oldest buildings of the city which have historical importance is the Herzenberg House (Herzenbergsche Haus) on the corner of Catholic St. and Big St. This house is a historical landmark building because it was there that in 1726 Moritz Saksonski was hiding from the Poles. He was freed by the life guards of the duchess Anna Ioanovna. Moritz Saksonsky was invited to the palace, but due to his thoughtlessness, he lost the good will of his benefactors and had to flee, disguised as a coachman, from his last place of refuge on the Usmas island, which, by that time, was surrounded by the Russians." I couldn't find anything on Google about Moritz Saksonsky. Usmas is a camping site in present-day Latvia. I'll keep you posted if I find anything else that gives clues to the past of the Herzenbergs."

      5. Received 30 Apr 2009 a copy of the following from Irene Gottleib Slatter entitled "Archival Reference about Brenson Family. It was prepared for Nina Kossman Dec 2006 and is report no. 3-K-7622; 7794N by Latvijas Valsts Vestures Arhivs (Latvian National Archives), Slokas iela 16, Riga, LV-1007. The following is only a partial transcript concerning this individual; please see the notes of Isidor Brenson within this database to see full and complete transcript including sources and documentation:
      "The records of the archival fonds "Collection of Passports of Riga Prefecture," "Riga City House Registers," the birth records of the Jewish community in Mitau for 1854-1855, 1857-1858, 1862, 1864-1883,1886-1889, 1892, 1895, 1900, 1902-1904, the marriage records of the same community for 1854, 1856-1868, 1872-1873, 1875, 1884, 1886-1887, 1889-1891, 1893, 1895-1897, as available at our archives (the birth marriage and death records for other years have not survived), the birth marriage and death records of the Jewish communities in Riga for 1854-1905, the revision lists of the Jewish families belonging to Mitau for 1834, 1858, 1887, the recruits' enlistment register of the Jewish families belonging to Mitau for 1845, 1875, for Pilten for 1848 contain the following information:
      "..We suppose that Klara's father was Robert (Ruben), son of Joseph (Jossel) Herzenberg a merchant from Pilten, born in ca 1826 (aged 22 in 1848, see Appendix No. 4) and mother Emilie (Amalie), daughter of David Kahn, born in ca 1830, died in 1903. Robert Herzenberg lived in Mitau and had his firm 'Robert Herzenberg,' he died before 1887 (the death records of the Jewish community in Mitau, as available at our archives do not contain information on his death).
      Ruben had at least two brothers Laser and Jacob (unfortunately, females (daughters) were not registered in the recruits's enlistment registers of Pilten). His parents: father Joseph (Jossel), son of Lemchen Herzenberg was born in ca 1809 (aged 39 in 1848), mother Zippe (the age is not stated). His grandparents: Lemchen, son of Joseph Herzenberg, born ca 1780, died in 1840. He belonged to the Jewish community in Pilten at least since 1834, his wife Schore (the age is not stated)...
      REFERENCE:
      fond 5024, inventory 2, files 331, 351, 375, inventory 1, file 88.
      fond 2942, inventory 1, files 4109, 2130.
      fond 630, inventory 2, files 220, 221.
      fond 4349, inventory 2, file 6.
      fond 445, inventory 1, files 2035, 2038.
      fond 2996, inventory 9, file 520, inventory 12, field 14498, inventory 7, files 25343, 25280, inventory 2, files 41162, 41163, 41164, 41171, 41175, 41185, 41186, inventory 15, file 4449, fond 472, inventory 5, files 628, 826, 1574.
      Enclosure: genealogical table - 1 table, copies of the documents - 26 sheets.
      Director: N. Rizovs, Head of Department: I. Veinberga., Researcher: J. Polovceva."

      6. The Latvian Archives is online and I have reviewed all Registers for Pilten. Registers are in German and I indicate what I don't understand. I extracted all Herzenbergs of which the following excerpts apply to this family:
      "<http://www.lvva-raduraksti.lv/en/menu/lv/13/ig/13/ie/5507/book/30316.html>
      -Image 17. Has two columns of ages after the name with the first being 1834 and the second 1842; presumably if missing in the second column then probably deceased in the interim. Family #38:
      -31 Lemchen Joseph Herzenberg, 54, - (Died in 1840 at age 61.)
      -his wife Schore (no ages)
      -32 his son Leiser, 13, 21
      -33 his son Joseph, 25, 33
      -34 his son Ruben, 8, 16
      -35 his son Laser, 5, 13
      -36 his son Jacob, 4, 12
      -Image 73. Has two columns of ages after the name with the first being 1834 and the second 1848; presumably if missing in the second column then probably deceased in the interim. List # 33, Family #10:
      -31 Lemchen Joseph Herzenberg, 54, - (Died in 1840.) [Also additional comment needing translation with the year 1846 in it.]
      -32 son Laser, 13, 27
      -33 son Joseph, 25, 33
      -his wife Zippe
      -34 his son Ruben, 8, 22
      -35 son Laser, 5, 19
      -36 son Jacob, 4, 18

      BIOGRAPHY:
      1. 28 Jul 2007 Http://www.herzenberg.net/leo/htmlrh/Content.html copyrighted by Leo Herzenberg:
      "An meinen Sohn (To my son) Leonhard Herzenberg von (from) Robert Herzenberg. Memoirs written during the 1940's." Translated during the 1990's by Leonardo (Leonhard) Herzenberg. The entire memoir is quite lengthy and included in its entirety in my notes with Joseph Herzenberg, the original known ancestor, in this database. The following is only the portion dealing with this part of the family:
      "Great Uncles on Mother's Side
      [60] Of the great uncles, the siblings of my grandmother on my mothers side, I can report very little. The oldest, Robert, after whom I was named, I could not know, because he died on my parents' wedding day, but I knew most of his children.
      Great Uncle Robert lived in Mitau, neighbor of his brother in law, great uncle Abraham. He was married to Emilie Cahn. The firm continued still long after the world war. I knew the children David, Alexander, Leo, Clara and Helene; Fanny, Seba, Sara died early from smallpox. of David I wrote already on p 54-55. Leo was a lawyer in Russia. I met him in Germany after the war. He was already quite white-haired when he married the piano virtuoso Jenja Rappaport. He then lived [61] as a lawyer in Riga and died there a few years ago. There the sisters Clara and Helene also lived and died before the second world war.
      Clara was married to Isidor Brensohn, and had children Ruth, Ellen, Robert, and Theo. Theo has a pretty good calling as a painter and etcher, having exhibited in Paris and Rome.
      Helene was married to Jeannot Taube, with children Harry, Alice and Erna. Harry Taube I still knew as a student.
      Of great-uncle Roberts's children I knew Alex best, and came closer to him when the first world war brought him out of Russia. He was married to Milly Tockel and lived as a rich businessman and house owner in Moscow, where his three children Edith, Ernst, and Theo were born. During the Bolschevick revolution he lost his whole fortune, but as a Latvian was allowed to emigrate, and came to Leipzig where his mother in law and sister in law [62] lived. The children grew up in Leipzig. Alex worked with representation, and Milly helped by keeping a pension, and furnishing summer homes. But there was only enough to live on. Alex was a good-hearted, modest person. He was completely dedicated to the family. He was an outstanding Cello player, and at one time had his own quartet in Moscow. Only one son, Ernst, inherited the musical talent, but he does not practice. When I already was in Bolivia Alex expressed the wish that I would bring his children to me. But only after his death, as the Hitler times kept getting worse, did the children decide to emigrate. Ernst came at the beginning of 1937, and found a position with the firm Enrique Levy in La Paz. Edith came in April 1938, in the fall of 1938 Theo, and at the beginning of 1939 the mother, Milly. Edith was in Oruro for a year and opened a kindergarten where you, [63] Nardi, along with 6-8 other children, were taught. In March 1939 she moved to La Paz to join her mother and brothers, then at the end of 1939 to Buenos Aires where she still has a position (February 1941) . Theo is a trained graphic artist and is active in his profession in La Paz."

      MARRIAGE:
      1. Date and place are unsubstantiated guesses only by Kerry Petersen.

      SOURCES_MISC:
      1. Leonardo Herzenberg http://www.herzenberg.net/