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

Last Update: May 4, 2005 (To add a link to P.G. de Gennes's obituary of Shlomo Alexander).

Previous Updates: March 15, 1999. Aug. 10, 2001 (thanks to Amir Alexander). Aug. 8, 2002 (after a visit to Leipzig), May 15, 2003.

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 , Ferbuary 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 enry:

and the Leipzig 1890 edition has:

They had five 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, 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, 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, who also died in the holocaust, was married to Selma, and they had three children.

• Fritz, who died in the holocaust.
• Edith Baron, who was married to Hans Baron (1900-?), a leading art historian. They had two children: Reinhardt (who is married to Marta), and whose children are Erica and Melanie, and Renate Francescono who is married to Marcel Francescono, and whose children are Nadia and Michael.
• Ernst Alexander(1902- Jan. 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. ]
  He was also physics editor of the monumental Hebrew Encylopedia, 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)). Ernst was married to Ernestine ("Erna") (?-?), a psychotherapist. Ernst and Erna Alexander had two children
  • Dina Alexander Ron (b. 1932), who lives in Haifa and is married to Ari Ron, a graphic artist. Dina and Ari Ron's children are Osnat, Ayelet and Noga. Osnat (b. Haifa, July 6, 1955) is the mother of Matti, Ayelet(b. May 5, 1959) is the mother of Peter (b. 1998) and the twins Ella and Emma (b. 2000). and Noga (b. May 14, 1963) is the mother of Yam (b. 1998) and Rif (b. 2000).
  • Shlomo Alexander (1930- Aug. 6, 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 Acdademy of Science and Humanities. Shlomo Alexander's wife is Esther Alexander (1929-2005), a distinguished economist, who sometimes advised the Israeli government on economic policy.
    [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 Esther Alexander have 3 children: Michal, Nitza, and Amir.

    • Michal Alexander (b. 1956), who lives in Ra'anana and has 3 boys - Tom (b. 1983), Yaniv (b. 1985), and Shachar (b. 1994). Tom now lives in a Yeshiva in B'nei Brak (a fact that would have pleased his GGGGGrandfather, Rabbi Lewin Aaron Pinner, the Rabbi of Wronke, Posen (now Wronki, Poznan) between 1840 and 1877).
    • Nitza Alexander Levine (b. 1961), who is married to 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 (b. 1963), who is married to Bonnie, and lives near Los Angeles. Amir and Bonnie have two children - Jordan (or Yarden) (b. 1995), and Ella (b. 1996). Amir Alexander is a historian of science. He got his Ph.D. from Stanford Univeristy 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 calclus. 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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