Daniel Abraham

Paternal Grandparents

Almost nothing is known about Mamo Abraham' family.

The names of the parents of Mamo Abraham, the paternal grandparents of Moritz, Haim, Mony and Isak Abraham are not known, nor do we know if they had other children.

According to Sarah Cohen Eldar, they died in Sofia, Bulgaria's capital.

Maternal Grandparents

A little bit more is known about the Abraham brothers' maternal grandparents, the parents of Lea (Jacob) Abraham.

Isaac Salomon Yaakov (Jacob) (or Moni (Salomon Moshe) Yaakov) and Rebecca (née Kovo) Yaakov had five daughters: Mazal, Leah, Rachel, Streah and Horsi, and two sons: Morenu and Yitzhak.

Isaac Salomon Jakob

Salomon (Moni) Yaakov

April 15 1901

Rebecca (Kovo) Yaakov

April 15 1901

Their second daughter, Leah Yaakov married Mamo Abraham (Avrahamov).

The January 20, 1911 issue of Die Welt, the official organ of the Zionist movement, shows that "Isak Salomon Jakob from Ruschuk" made a donation for four olive trees. This indicates that Isak Salomon Jakob was still alive in 1911 and resided in Ruschuk. (The Bulgarian branch of the Zionist organization was then led by Isak Salomon Jakob's grandson, Isak Avramoff (Isac Abraham).)

Die Welt, 1911, issue 3 (January 20, 1911)

The only other information about Isak and Rebecca Yaakov comes from this Power of Attorney dating from the 1920s. Written in Bulgarian, this was probably drafted by a notary in Ruschuk to allow an unnamed party - assumed to be Moritz Abraham - to sign a mortgage agreement between Rebecca and her grandson, Isak Abramov, for one half of a house in Ruschuk.

Power of Attorney for mortgage, 1920s

"I, Rebecca Isaac Salomon Jakob, from the city of Ruschuk, now living in Vienna, 11 Prater Straße # 34, floor IV, auhtorize ( no name ) from ( no city name )

- to conclude a mortgage agreement and to mortgage to Isaac I. Avramov from the city of Ruschuk, now living in the city of Berlin, 1 Tatseninu (?) Street, my half of the house in the city of Ruschuk, which I have 27 Evreiska Street, and now David Street, plot 69 with neighbors: Merdohai Nesimov, heir to Jewish Street (?) and now David Street.

- to appear before all persons, authorities and institutions and the Notary in the Kingdom of Bulgaria to take out the mortgage and sign all the papers on the case, and this mortgage made for 140,000 BGN equal to 5200 Swiss Francs with 10% annual interest for 3 years from interest will be paid every six months."

(Note that the wording and the exact addresses are not completely clear (Google translate).

Although a terse, legal document, it reveals some precious information about Rebecca and the family. First, it indicates that she was born in Ruschuk. Her name is given as "Rebecca Isaac Salomon Jakob", providing a more complete name for her husband - previously only known as "Salomon (Moni) Jakob".

At the time this document was drafted, she lived in Vienna, 11 PraterStrasse, an apartment building complex located on a thoroughfare leading to the Prater.

Although the draft is not dated, the 1920s placeholder at the bottom helps place her leaving Bulgaria some time in the 1920s or earlier.

Her signing a mortgage for a house in Ruschuk may indicate that by then her husband had died; it is not clear however why the mortgage was for one half of a house, and one can only assume that this was the family home, although this is not specified.

Her presence in Vienna also raises a question of why she would have left Roustchuk. Did she leave following the death of her husband, and relocate to Vienna to be closer to her family - maybe a child of hers may have been living there already? Indeed, according to Iris Nir, "part of the family used to live in Vienna". This might also help explain why her grandson Moritz seems to have considered acquiring the Austrian nationality around that time, although he eventually opted for a Spanish one.