“ …do have one Jewish surname that I happen to know of and may help you add to your rich research - and that is the name HARMON or perhaps later changed to HERMON. I used to know a lady by the name of {…..} (nee Harmon) … (later married {……}) and they went as Dutch Burghers, who told me that they were from a Jewish family and went on to explain briefly about the Harmon name being changed to Hermon”.
“Nyanaponika Maha Thera, who was born in Hanau, Germany on July 21, 1901 as Siegmund Feniger, the only child of a Jewish family. He died 19th Oct 1994 in the Udawattekelle Forest Reserve, Kandy”.
“there must have been a significant community at one time--mostly pre 1939, I think, as on the main rd out of Colombo, to the South (Galle Rd but that bit is known as Kollupitiya Rd ) about a mile from the former central business district, is a house named "The Synagogue" from the days when it was used as such. I lived almost opposite that house from 1964 to 1973, when I came to Australia”.
“Family hearsay has it that there were Jewish families in Moratuwa”.
“Joe Simpson has posted more information on Justice Sidney Abrahams. I will upload the photo of him”.
Update 2011:
Since writing this, I have been forwarded to pictures taken in March 1966 by Zeev Raphael of the 'house' at 136 Galle Rd,Colombo 3:
5 comments:
There used to be an English news reporter named Kalpana Isaacs who used to write to one of the English dailies in Sri Lanka who, I believe, must have had Jewish ancestors based on her family name.
Kalpana was at Methodist College Colombo. I my memory serves me correctly she married an Englishman and is now domiciled in the UK. One of her relatives married a classmate of mine. He too is an Issac and he is a tamil or a Colombochetty. Not quite sure which one though. Hope this help
Having the surname Isaacs doesn't necessarily mean that she had Jewish ancestors. It's more likely that she descends from a Tamil family that took their British-Jewish employer's surname out of respect for him.
my cousin married an Isaac, who is a pure Tamil. Isaac is a very common Tamil name
Post a Comment