Salomon Alexander (The Father of the Father of the Mother of Doron Zeilberger)

Last Update: May 22, 2008 (thanks to Amir Alexander and Dina and Ari Ron).

Previous Updates: March 15, 1999. Aug. 10, 2001 (thanks to Amir Alexander). Aug. 8, 2002 (after a visit to Leipzig), May 15, 2003. May 4, 2005 (To add a link to P.G. de Gennes's obituary of Shlomo Alexander).

Salomon Alexander, was born on Dec. 9, 1826, in Graetz, Posen, Prussia (now Godinzok, Poland). Later he lived in Tirschtigl, Posen, Prussia, (now Trzciel, Poland). He was "Sokhet and Bodek" (ritual slaughterer and Kosher checker), and a "Melamed" (teacher). His father was Gerson Alexander . He was married to Rebecka Pinner (Bombst, Posen, March 6, 1835- Leipzig , February 6, 1913) (sister of Adolf Pinner ). Before 1880 the family moved to Leipzig. Salomon died on July 18, 1911. Salomon and Rebecka are buried in Leipzig's Jewish Cemetery (on Berliner Strasse) (see the inscription on their grave)

The Leipzig 1880 Adressebuch has the following entry:

and the Leipzig 1890 edition has:

They had six children.

• Paul Alexander(1870-1942) (Doron Zeilberger's maternal Grandfather).

• Alexander Alexander, a physician, who was married to Zelestina ("Zollie") Fogel Alexander. They had one daughter, Martha Alexander Hartley who was married to John Hartley.In the late thirties, she immigrated to the United States. She had no children.

• Hylia Alexander Weiss, who was married to Leo Weiss(?-1937). They had one child, Hans Yizhak Weiss, who was a Judge in Germany before immigrating to Palestine). Hans Weiss was married to (Clara) Brigitte (sister of Ruth Alexander Zeilberger, Doron's mother). To see their descendants see the entry of Paul Alexander ).

• Edgar Alexander , a well-loved physician, who was married to Kathe, they had no children. He lived and worked at Marienstrasse 29, Leipzig, and he is listed in the 1933 Juedischer Addressbuche, reprinted in 1994 by Arani (I saw a copy at the Leipzig City Library). He died in the holocaust.

• Georg Alexander, who owned, in partnership with the above-mentioned Leo Weiss (his brother-in-law) a suitcase factory, the "Weiss & Alexander A.-G. Koffer-Fabrik", whose address was S.O. 36-Elisabeth-Ufer 53, Berlin. Georg (probably) died in the holocaust, He was married to Selma, and they had three children.
  • Fritz, who died in the holocaust.
  • Edith Baron, who was married to Hans Baron (1900-1988), a historian of the Renaissance, and widely considered one of the two most influential Renaissance historians of the 20th century (the other one being Kristeller). His book "The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance" appeared in 1955, and argued that the cultural achievements of the Renaissance grew out of the republican spirit of Florence in its struggle against its despotic neighbors, and Milan in particular. He is most closely identified with the term "civic humanism", which he coined to express the interdependence between republicanism and Renaissance humanism. His book has shaped interpretations of the Renaissance in the past 50 years. They have two children:
    • Reinhardt (who is married to Marta), and whose children are Erica and Melanie,
    • Renate Francescono, who is married to Marcel Francescono, and whose children are Nadia and Michael.
  • Ernst Alexander (Germany, March 19, 1902- Jerusalem, Jan. 30, 1980), professor of physics at the Hebrew University, Jerusaelm, who served as dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences for many years. Ernst co-authored, with 1943 Chemistry Nobel Laureate George Hevesy, the book "Praktikum der Chemischen Analyse mit Rongestrahlne", Leipzig, 1933.
    [Added Sept. 17, 2007: Professor Siegfried Niese, an authority on Hevesy, kindly sent Amir Alexander, who forwarded it to me, a picture of the Freiburg Hevesy Group (ca. 1932). Ernst Alexander is second from the left in the front row, with a dark suit beneath his white coat. Hevesy is the taller of the two men in suits in the middle. ]

    In 1933, Ernst Alexander moved to Israel, and was appointed Research Assistant at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His appointment letter, dated Nov. 30, 2008, and signed by the Registrar, S. Ginzburg, states that his monthly salary would be 16.666 Palestinian Pound (Lai), plus a family supplement of 3 Lai. He was promoted to Lecturer in Experimental Physics on April 1, 1946, and the appointment letter, signed by the Registrar Vav Yud Neumond, was dated April 9, 1946. It said that the appointment was approved by Dr. Weizmann.

    I don't know the dates of his promotions to Senior Lecturer and Assoc. Prof., but his final promotion, to Full Professor, was on April 1, 1964, in a letter signed by the President of the Hebrew University, E. Eilat.
    Ernst Alexander was also physics editor of the monumental Hebrew Encyclopedia, and contributed many entries (e.g. on the electron). Ernst Alexander was also a very gifted teacher who made sure that even the most theoretically minded students will have a good grasp of practice. He was famous for his unorthodox questions in oral exams, for example: "Describe the operation of a flush toilet" (this story was told to me, ca. 1978, by Ze'hava Elitzur (wife of Shmuel Elitzur)). Siegfried Niesse wrote an article about him, that I hope to post here soon.

    Ernst Alexander was married to Ernestina ("Erna") (b. Dienstfertig) in Berlin on 8 Sept. 1906 and died in Jerusalem on June 4, 1983. In Israel she was known as "Ester Alexander". Her father was Rabbi Meyer Dienstfertig, a reform rabbi and biblical scholar. She was a psychotherapist. Ernst and Erna Alexander had two children

    • Dina Alexander Ron (Jerusalem, Oct. 21, 1933), who lives in Haifa on Yefe Nof St., one of the nicest streets in Israel, and is married to Ari Ron, a graphic artist and well-known illustrator of Children's books in Israel. His most famous book, that is currently enjoying a great revival is called "Where is Pluto", and the narrative was written by Dina herself, and then put into rhymes by the legenedary Hebrew poet Lea Goldberg. Dina and Ari Ron's children are
      • Osnat Ron (born Kibbutz Megiddo, July 5, 1955) who currently lives in London, and who is the mother of
        • Matti Ron (born London, Sept. 23, 1984) who is currently (2008) studying at Brighton University,
      • Ayelet Ron Vernick (Kibbutz Megiddo, May 7, 1959- Tel-Aviv, May 22, 2006). Ayelet was married to Shalom Vernick, a computer professional. The children of Ayelet and Shalom Vernick are
        • Peter Vernick (born Tel-Aviv, Dec. 31, 1997)
        • Emma Vernick (born Tel-Aviv, Dec. 14, 1999)
        • Ella Vernick (born Tel-Aviv, Dec. 14, 1999)
      • Noga Ron Eitan (born Haifa, May 14, 1963), who is married to Yaron Eitan, a businessman. They currently (2008) live in Ramat HaSharon. Yaron and Noga Eitan have three children:
        • Yam (born Sept. 26, 1997)
        • Reef (born Oct. 6, 1999)
        • Agam (born Dec. 2, 2003)
    • Shlomo Alexander (Freiburg, Sept. 4. 1930- near Hadera, Aug. 7, 1998), solid-state physicist, who was professor of physics at the Hebrew University for many years, also serving as dean for some years, and who later moved back to the Weizmann Institute, Rehovot. In 1993, he received the Israel prize in the natural sciences. He was a member of the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities. Shlomo Alexander's wife is Ester Alexander (Vac, Hungary, Aug. 2, 1929- Natanya, Israel, April 22, 2005), a distinguished economist and social activist, who sometimes advised the Israeli government on economic policy. She is honored every year with conference at "Beit Seminar Ha-Kibbutzim" in Tel Aviv.
      [Added May 4, 2005: Read Pierre G. de Gennes's obituary in the homepage of Shlomo Alexander's last conference.]
      Like his father, Shlomo Alexander was killed in a car accident, on Aug. 6, 1998.

      Shlomo and Ester Alexander have 3 children:

      • Michal Alexander ? (Rehovot, Jan. 3, 1956), who lives in Ra'anana and has 3 boys
        • Tom Alexander (born 1983). Tom became ultra-orthodox (hared), and now studies fill-time in yeshiva, This fact would have pleased his GGGGGrandfather, Rabbi Lewin Aaron Pinner, the Rabbi of Wronke, Posen (now Wronki, Poznan) between 1840 and 1877. Tom now (2008) lives in a community near Modi'in and goes by the name "Yisrael Meir." He is married to Liron ? and has 3 girls, the oldest of which is 3 years old. Their names are Tamar, Sarah, and ? .
        • Yaniv (b. 1985),
        • Shachar (b. 1994).
      • Nitza Alexander Levine (born Summit, New Jersey, Aug. 29, 1961), who married Dov Levine, also a physicist who specializes in self-organization and sand piles. Nitza and Dov live in Atlit near Haifa. They have three girls - Tal (b. 1991), Keren (b, 1994), and Ma'ayan (b. 1999).
      • Amir Alexander (born Rehovot, April 7, 1963), who is married to Bonnie Thoreson, and lives near Los Angeles. Amir and Bonnie have two children
        • Jordan (or Yarden) (born June 14, 1995),
        • Ella (born Oct. 26, 1996).
        Amir Alexander is a historian of science. He got his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1996, and is affiliated with the Center for the Cultural Studies of Science at UCLA and is also with the Planetary Society. Amir's fascinating research includes a comparative study of Dee and Hariot who both pursued the same goal, British imperialism, albeit in different ways. One of them used rigorous, deductive geometry, while the other used the "non-rigorous", intuitive, infinitesimal calculus. In 2002 Stanford University Press published the book "Geometrical Landscapes: The Voyages of Discovery and the Transformations of Mathematical Practice", proposing an innovative and brilliant new `narrative' methodology to the history and philosophy of mathematics.
• Gertrude, who died when she was five-year-old.

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