Alain Bernheim (23 May 1931 – 26 December 2022) was a French classical pianist who performed internationally. In 1980, he turned to research of the history of Freemasonry in France, Switzerland, and Germany. He published books and encyclopedic entries in the field.

Life

Bernheim was born in Paris, on 23 May 1931, the son of André Bernheim, the owner and manager of the

Théâtre de la Madeleine The Théâtre de la Madeleine () is a theater in Paris built in the English style in 1924 on the site of a carousel. The first major success of the theatre came with the presentation of part one of '' The Merchants of Glory'' by Marcel Pagnol. T ...

. At the age of twelve he was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

and sent to the internment camp

Drancy Drancy () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris in the Seine-Saint-Denis department in northern France. It is located 10.8 km (6.7 mi) from the center of Paris. History Toponymy The name Drancy comes from Medieval Lati ...

. At fifteen he was chosen to represent the ''

Lycée Janson-de-Sailly Lycée Janson-de-Sailly is a ''lycée'' located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. The ''lycéens'' of Janson are called ''les jansoniens'' and they usually refer to their high school as Janson, or JdS. It is the biggest academic inst ...

'' at the ''

Concours Général In France, the Concours Général (), created in 1747, is the most prestigious academic competition held every year between students of ''Première'' (11th grade) and ''Terminale'' (12th and final grade) in almost all subjects taught in both genera ...

'' of philosophy competition. He studied at the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

, receiving a first prize in piano in 1953. Bernheim was among the first French music students to receive a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

, which allowed him to study further at the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

in Boston. He also studied with

Hans Richter-Haaser Hans Richter-Haaser (6 January 191213 December 1980) was a noted German classical pianist, who was known for his interpretations of Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Schubert and Robert Schumann, Schumann. He was also a teacher, a c ...

in Detmold and with

Magda Tagliaferro Magdalena Maria Yvonne Tagliaferro (19 January 18939 September 1986) was a Brazilian pianist of French parentage. Magdalena Tagliaferro was born in Petrópolis, Brazil. Her father, who had studied piano with Raoul Pugno in Paris, was a voice a ...

in São Paulo. In the 1953 international piano competition in Bucharest, he was awarded a second prize together with

Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is a Soviet-born Icelandic pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. Ashkenazy has collaborated with well-known orchestras and soloists. In addition, ...

. Bernheim made his

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

debut in New York City on 25 February 1960 as a charity for the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

. He performed around 2,000 concerts until 1980, but then gave up his musical career for health reasons. He turned to Masonic research. A Freemason since 1963, he belonged to the Regular Grand Loge of Belgium and to the Grand Lodge Alpina of Switzerland. He was awarded the 33° by the Supreme Council of the United States (Southern Jurisdiction), elected a Chapter Knight of the Great Priory of Belgium and was a member of the

Royal Order of Scotland The Royal Order of Scotland is an Masonic bodies, appendant order within the structures of Freemasonry. Membership is an honour extended to Freemasons by invitation. The Grand Lodge of the Royal Order of Scotland is headquartered in Edinburgh, ...

. He is also the first French Freemason who was elected a full member of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076 (United Grand Lodge of England) from which he demitted in 2014. The Supreme Council of France made him a Member of Honour in 2014 and awarded him the distinction of Grand Commander Honoris Causa in 2018. In 1986 and 1993, he was awarded the Norman Spencer Award by the English premier Lodge of Research

Quatuor Coronati Lodge ''Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076'' (its Latin title meaning '' Four Crowned Ones'') is a Masonic Lodge in London dedicated to Masonic research. Founded in 1886, the Lodge meets at Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street. The name of the Lodge i ...

N° 2076, 1997 the Certificate of Literature by the

Philalethes Society The Philalethes Society is a Masonic research society based in North America. The society was founded on October 1, 1928, by a group of Masonic authors led by Cyrus Field Willard. Willard was a former reporter for the Boston Globe and the founder o ...

(US), 2001 the Albert Gallatin Mackey Scholar Award by the Scottish Rite Research Society (Washington, D.C.), which elected him a Fellow, and 2007 was selected a member of The Society of Blue Friars. Bernheim wrote ''Les Débuts de la Franc-Maçonnerie à Genève et en Suisse'' (Slatkine, 1994), many entries of the ''Encyclopédie de la Franc-Maçonnerie'' (Pochotèque, 2000), ''Réalité Maçonnique'' (Alpina Research Group, Lausanne, 2007) and some 150 papers published in French, English and German masonic magazines. His book ''Une certaine idée de la franc-maçonnerie'', was published September 2008 by Dervy, Paris, and ''Le rite en 33 grades - De Frederick Dalcho à Charles Riandey'', in September 2011, also by Dervy. Bernheim died in

Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

on 26 December 2022, at the age of 91.

References

External links

* *
United Grand Lodge and United Grand Lodges of Germany, 1946-1961
academia.edu * Bernheim, Alain

freemasons-freemasonry.com * Bernheim, Alain

freemasons-freemasonry.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernheim, Alain 1931 births 2022 deaths 20th-century French male classical pianists 20th-century French classical pianists 21st-century French male musicians Lycée Janson-de-Sailly alumni French expatriates in Switzerland People from Montreux Swiss Freemasons French people of Jewish descent