Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor

 

Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Phillip Cantor

Georg born on Monday, 3rd March of 1845 (24 Safar 1261 Hijri) at Saint Petersburg (Russian Empire). He was brought up in that city until the age of 11. The oldest of six children, he was regarded as an outstanding violinist. His father was a Danish trader and his Mother an Austro‐Hungarian artist. Cantor's paternal grandparents were from Copenhagen and fled to Russia from the disruption of the Napoleonic Wars. There is very little direct information on them. 

Cantor's father, Georg Waldemar Cantor, was educated in the Lutheran mission in Saint Petersburg, and his correspondence with his son shows both of them as devout Lutherans. Very little is known for sure about Georg Waldemar's origin or education. Cantor's mother, Maria Anna Böhm, was an Austro-Hungarian born in Saint Petersburg and baptized Roman Catholic; she converted to Protestantism upon marriage. However, there is a letter from Cantor's brother Louis to their mother, stating:

"Mögen wir zehnmal von Juden abstammen und ich im Princip noch so sehr für Gleichberechtigung der Hebräer sein, im socialen Leben sind mir Christen lieber ... ("Even if we were descended from Jews ten times over, and even though I may be, in principle, completely in favour of equal rights for Hebrews, in social life I prefer Christians...) "


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