Levi Genealogy Collection

Collection

Identifier: AR 25987

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection is arranged into three series in two boxes. Series I documents the personal lives of Arthur Levi and Kitty Levi. Series II documents Arthur Levi’s genealogical origins and research, with information about his maternal (Dorfzaun) and paternal (Levi) families. Series III documents Kitty née Pappenheim Levi’s genealogical origins and research and includes information about her maternal (Ernst) and paternal (Pappenheim) families, along with information about other familial relations. Arthur Levi conducted most of the research into his wife’s family history.

Dates

Creation: 1743-2015
Creation: 1980-1995

Creator

Levi, Arthur, 1919- (Person)

Language of Materials

The collection is in English and German, with some Hebrew and Hungarian.

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact: Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011 email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org

Biographical Note

Arthur Levi was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1919 and immigrated to the United States in 1938, shortly after Kristallnacht. His parents were Gottfried Levi and Selma née Dorfzaun Levi. He worked as an accountant and also earned a master’s degree in Jewish studies from the University of Massachusetts. He became interested in genealogy at midlife and self-published three books about his and his wife’s family origins.

Kitty née Pappenheim Levi was born in Vienna in 1925 to Maurice Pappenheim and Margit née Ernst Pappenheim. Kitty fled to England via the Kindertransport and then came to the United States in 1941. She and Arthur Levi married in 1947; they settled in Longmeadow, MA and had four daughters.

Extent

2 Linear Feet

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection documents the genealogical origins of Arthur Levi (1919-2018) and his wife, Kitty Pappenheim Levi (1925-2022).

Arrangement

The series is arranged in three series:

Series I: Arthur and Kitty Levi, 1880-2015
Series II: Family of Arthur Levi, 1743-2015
Series III: Family of Kitty Levi, 1918-2014

Related Materials

See also LBI collections AR 6956 and AR 25049 for additional information about Arthur Levi’s family history.

Two self-published books by Arthur Levi are available in the library at the Center for Jewish History: “Genealogy and family history: Maurice Pappenheim and Margit Ernst,” 1995; and “Genealogy of the Pappenheim family of Pressburg and Vienna,” 1993.

Processing Information

This collection has been processed for the first and so far, only time; there are no previous inventories or finding aids describing the collection. The materials arrived in three boxes, with descriptions and labels accompanying the folders. Some of the original order has been kept, particularly for the first series; in many cases, materials from different folders have been combined when they relate to the same topics. Items are placed together according to chronology and document type.