Name variations: Gisy, Gideon, Guideon, Guy.
He signed his early correspondance "Gisi". "Gideon" appears around 1930, then for a short while "Gisy". He started using the French "Guy" in 1933.

Gisi Abraham was the first child of Ronya and Moritz Abraham. His life was cut short when, at the age of seventeen, he disappeard while mountaineering alone in the French Alps.

Constantinople

Gedeon (Gisi) was born March 24, 1917 in Constantinople.

Gisi Abraham - Birth Certificate

Gisi Abraham - Birth Certificate.

Birth Certificate established by the "Foreign Jewish Community of Constantinople, under Italian protection" which indicates the family didn't carry the Turkish nationality.

Gisi Abraham - Birth Announcement

Gisi Abraham - Birth Announcement, in French.

Telegram for Gisi Abraham's birth.

Congratulation telegram for Gisi's birth from Mair and Rachel Ventura, from Vienna.

The telegram is addressed to "Abrahamim, Constantinople" - "Abrahams, Constantinople".

Gisi Abraham, 1919.

Gisi Abraham with his nurse, Kitza. Constantinople, 1919.

Gisi Abraham, 1919.

Gisi Abraham, 1919.

Photo Phebus, Constantinople.

Bnei Brith ball. Constantinople.

Gisy at the Bnei Brith Ball. Constantinople, ca 1920.

Gisi Abraham, 1919.

Gisi, Uriel Abraham with the painter Birnbaum, 1919.

Photo Phebus, Constantinople.

Gisi and Uly. Constantinople, 1919.

Gisi and Uly. Constantinople, 1919.

Gisi Abraham, Constantinople.

Gisi Abraham, Constantinople.

Berlin

Gisi, Berlin - 1922.

Gisi, Berlin - 1922.

Dusseldorf

In August 1925, age 8, Gisi was hospitalized in Dissen, Teutoburger Wald, then went to the Children Sanatorium in Bad Rothenfelde (Teutoburger Wald).

Sanatorium

Children Sanatorium in Bad Rothenfelde, Teutoburger Wald.

He wrote his mother the following:

Card from Gisi from the hospital - 1925.

Card from Gisi from the hospital - 1925.

Liebe Mama!
Ich bin im Krankenhaus und komme am Sonnabend den 29.8.25 nach den Kindern Sanatorium. Kommst du uns am Dienstag abholen?

Dear Mommy!
I am in the hospital and will go on Saturday 29/8/25 to the children sanatorium. Are you coming to pick us up on Tuesday?

Gisi Abraham - School - 1925

Gisi Abraham - School, Dusseldorf, Fall 1925.

Gisi. Purim - 1927.

Gisi, Purim 1927

In 1927, age 10, Gisi wrote the following card to his parents in French:

Card from Gisi to Parents - 1927.

Card from Gisi to his parents in French - 1927.

Mon cher papa!
Je travaille avec Monsieur (unreadable). Le temps est tres bon. Le petit (unreadable) est tres heureux. Le reste de la carte pour est maman. Ton, Gisi.

Ma chere Maman!
Le monsieur Durwitz (?) et papa et moi trouvons le A(unreadable) je (?) premier le (?). Ton, Gisi.

In 1928, on vacation with his aunt Eva (Liska) in the Frisian Island of Norderney, a German resort off the North Sea coast, he wrote a postcard to his mother in German:

Card from Gisi to Ronya - 1928.

Card from Gisi to his mother in German - 1928.

Berlin, 1929 - 1930

1929 - GoetheSchule, Berlin.

GoetheSchule  Berlin, 1929

GoetheSchule, Berlin, 1929.

March 22, 1930: Bar Mitzvah in the Synagogue Friedenstempel in Berlin. (based on the dedication in the "Kleine Schul und Hausbibel " von Dr. Jakob Auerbach.

Paris

Gisy, 1932

Gisy, 1932

Lycee Lakanal. 1931-1932

Lycee Lakanal. 1931-1932

Gisy Abraham, Lycee Lakanal, 1932

Gisy (third from the left) with friends from Lycee Lakanal, Sceaux. 1932

Oxford

1933 - August/September: Gisi spent the Summer in Oxford, England.

Gisy, Oxford, 1933

Gisy, Oxford, 1933

Gisy, Oxford, 1933

Gisy on a friend's motorcycle. Oxford, 1933

Final Year

Gisy Abraham, Lycee Janson De Sailly, Paris. 1934

Gisy, Lycee Janson De Sailly, Paris. 1934

Gisy, 1934

Gisy, 1934

Gisi died at the age of 17 on July 16, 1934, in while mountaineering in Houches, Haute Savoie (France).

Gisi went on a trip to the French Alps with friends, but had a dispute with his friends on the train and decided to go on his own. He disappeared and was never seen again. It is believed that he fell in a crevasse.

His father Moritz came down from Paris and looked for him in the mountain with a search dog, but in vain.

Gisy, 1934

Gisy, 1934

Gisy, 1934

Gisy, 1934

Post Mortem

In 1937, Gisi's mother Ronya set up a scholarship in memory of her son to send a young pioneer from Palestine on a ten day skiing trip to Lebanon. The recipient, Karl Welisch from Kibbutz Ein Gev, sent her a letter in the spring of 1938 to thank her and describe his trip. He mentions that he hopes the recipient of next year's scholarship will enjoy it as much as he did, but there is no information whether this scholarship existed for more than a year.

I hope that my successor, the recipient of the Gisi Abraham Scholarship for 1938, will have an equally beautiful experience and thus a number of young people will remember with gratitude that the Gizy Abraham Scholarship allows them to ski.

For the 10 beautiful days on which I will always remember me, my deepest thanks.

Of interest is the following excerpt:

The population, Christian Maronites, are friendly, cheerful people who have welcomed us with open arms. (...) The foundation of the ski hut you have envisaged, would be of great importance for the development of skiing in Lebanon (... and) would reinforce the ties between Palestine and the Lebanon.

In 1938, the writer Jacques Vichniac, better known under his pen name Jacques Givet, published a book of poems written between the age of 17 and 20, "Nous N'irons Plus au Bois". The collection included a poem dedicated to Gisi:

A la memoire de G. A.

(...) Mets un bandeau sur la tête
il est temps de dresser des camps de détresse
sur les glaciers et de rendre a la terre
ce qu'a la terre tu as volé (...)

He autographed a copy of his book to "Madame Abraham" in 1940. (The date is unclear: 12+1-4 .40

Born in 1917, the same year as Gisi, I assume Jacques Vichniac/Givet and Gisi were classmates.

This family history project started September 2009.
All photos and documents belong to the author and are © Daniel Abraham, except for maps and where indicated.
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This is a work in progress. Please contact me if you have any more information to contribute.

Last Modified: Saturday, January 22, 2022