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Jacob Marcus, also called R. Jakob, was a German-Swedish businessman and one of the pioneers in the history of Sweden's Jewish population, which began to take root around the turn of the 18th-19th centuries.
Marcus was probably born in 1749 in
Jacob Marcus, also called R. Jakob, was a German-Swedish businessman and one of the pioneers in the history of Sweden's Jewish population, which began to take root around the turn of the 18th-19th centuries.
Marcus was probably born in 1749 in Schwaan
Schwaan is a municipality in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is also the seat of the Schwaan Township, serving another six municipalities.
The town is famous for being a traditional art colony.
Geography
The area a ...
, Germany. Marcus's considerable impact on the history of Norrköping and his significance to immigration and advancement have been pointed out in several publications. He had that city's first synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
built, which opened in 1796 for the increasing community centered on its congregation.
That and his general benefit to Sweden, as a merchant especially privileged by King Gustav III, and his position as an East Gothland property owner and community leader, have been recorded in published biographical articles.
Marcus died 13 March 1819 in Norrköping
Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...
, Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
.
Known descendants
Two of Marcus's daughters, Lowisa (1787-1842) and Hedda (1796-1834) married two brothers of the successful von Reis family ofGothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
Jews.
A number of famous Swedes have descended from Marcus and his wife Fredrika Isaksdotter (1760-1826, originally ''Freideh Isaac''), such as historian Hugo Valentin
Hugo Valentin (1888–1963) was a Swedish historian, scholar and leading Zionist. He received his PhD from Uppsala University in 1916 and took up teaching at the Teachers Training College in Uppsala and at a high school. In 1930 he was appoint ...
, TV producer Gunilla Marcus-Luboff Gunilla is a Swedish female name, derived from Gunhild. It was among the top feminine names in the Scandinavian countries in the 1940s.
People named Gunilla
*Gunilla Andersson (born 1975), ice hockey player from Sweden
*Gunilla Bergström (1942– ...
, the Bonnier publishing dynasty, opera star Isa Quensel
Isa Quensel (21 September 1905 – 3 November 1981) was a Swedish actress and operatic soprano who appeared in over 50 films, plays, operas, TV and radio shows. In 1939 she created the title role in the world premiere of Erich Wolfgang Korng ...
, industrialist Stefan Anderson
Knut Stefan Anderson (born December 26, 1878, Enköping, Sweden, died May 8, 1966, Ludvika) was a Swedish industrialist, journalist and master craftsman clockmaker/watchmaker decorated with badges of chivalric orders by the Kings of Sweden, Denmar ...
, photographer Mattias Klum
Mattias Klum (born 10 February 1968 in Uppsala) is a Swedish freelance photographer and film producer in natural history and culture, cultural subjects. He is the son of Swedish academic educator Arne Klum (1925-2016) and Ingegärd Klum, née St ...
, pop entertainer Magnus Uggla. Usually, already the early descendants of Marcus and Isaksdotter married into Swedish families which were not Jewish. American botanist-author Siri von Reis
Siri Sylvia Patricia von Reis (February 10, 1931 – August 3, 2021) was an American botanist, author, and poet of half-Finnish and half-Swedish ancestry. She was an authority on traditional medicine. She was also an investigator at the New York ...
in New York and daughter Serena Altschul
Serena Altschul (born October 13, 1970) is an American broadcast journalist, known for her work at MTV News and CBS.
Early life and education
Altschul was born in New York City, a daughter of author and botanist Siri von Reis and Arthur Altsch ...
also descend from Marcus.
In 1900, a comprehensive account of the entire Marcus family and its descendants was published in Sweden as a large printed circular chart,''Stamtafla öfver Marcuska Familen 1749–1900'', Ludvig Marcus and an extensive family roster was updated until 1942 by Curt Marcus. Beginning around that time, Jewish descent (no matter how diluted) was kept in low profile, especially during World War II, despite Sweden's neutrality.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcus, Jacob Jewish Swedish history 1749 births 1819 deaths 18th-century Swedish businesspeople German emigrants to Sweden 18th-century German Jews Swedish Ashkenazi Jews Jacob