The surname מענדעלסאן (original yiddish: '׳מענדעלזאן) is transliterated to English as Mendelssohn, Mendelsson, Mendelson, or Mandelson. It is a common Polish/German Jewish surname. The variant spellings are used interchangeably, often even within a single family.

The name means son of Mendel ("Mendel's son"), or son of Menachem, as Mendel is a Yiddish diminutive of the Hebrew given name Menahem. Menachem itself means "consoling" or "one who consoles".

People

Mendelssohn

the Mendelssohn family starting with Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), a significant figure in the Age of Enlightenment in Germany, and his descendants:

  • Joseph Mendelssohn (1770–1848), German Jewish banker, son of Moses, founder of Mendelssohn & Co.
  • Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1776–1835), German Jewish banker, son of Moses, father of Fanny and Felix
  • Brendel Mendelssohn (1763–1839), daughter of Moses, married (i) Simon Veit, (ii) Friedrich Schlegel
  • Fanny Mendelssohn (1805–1847), noted early Romantic composer and pianist, daughter of Abraham
  • Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847), noted early Romantic composer, son of Abraham
  • Rebecka Mendelssohn (1811–1858), daughter of Abraham, married Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician
  • Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1841–1880), German chemist, son of Felix
  • Arnold Mendelssohn (1855–1933), great-grandson of Moses, composer and music teacher

Others

  • Anna Mendelssohn (1948–2009), British political activist and poet
  • Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn (1911–1952), British band leader
  • George Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, founder of Vox Records label in 1945
  • Heinrich Mendelssohn (1881–1959), German building tycoon
  • Kurt Mendelssohn (1906–1980), German-born British medical physicist
  • Vladimir Mendelssohn (1949–2021), Dutch-Romanian composer, violist, and professor

Mendelsohn

  • Paul Benjamin Mendelsohn (born 1969), Australian actor and musician
  • Carol Mendelsohn (born 1951), Canadian-Am. TV writer
  • Carolyn Mendelsohn, English portrait photographer
  • Daniel Mendelsohn (born 1960), American author and classics scholar
  • Erich Mendelsohn (1887–1953), Am./British-Prussian architect
  • Everett Mendelsohn (1931–2023), American historian
  • Fred Mendelsohn (1917–2000), US promoter of black gospel music, president of Savoy Records
  • Jonathan Mendelsohn, Baron (born 1966), British lobbyist and Labour political organiser
  • Matthew Mendelsohn (birthdate unknown), Canadian civil servant
  • Nathan Mendelsohn (1917–2006), Canadian mathematician
  • Nicola Mendelsohn (born 1971), British advertising executive
  • Robert Mendelsohn (disambiguation), multiple people

Mendelson

  • Curtis Lester Mendelson (1913–2002), American cardiologist who first described pneumonia called Mendelson's syndrome
  • Elliott Mendelson (1931–2020), American logician, known for the Mendelson axiom schemata for propositional Logic
  • Mira Mendelson (1914–1968), Russian poet, second wife of Sergei Prokofiev
  • Paul Mendelson, British scriptwriter for television, film and radio
  • Phil Mendelson (born 1952), Washington, D.C., politician
  • Shari Mendelson (born 1961), American sculptor

Other spellings

  • Ben Mandelson (born 1953), English world musician
  • Peter Mandelson (born 1953), British Labour politician
  • Nathan Menderson (1820–1904), German-born American business/baseball executive

See also

  • Mandel, surname list
  • Mandelson (surname)
  • Menderson
  • Menachem Mendel, name list
  • Mendelssohn (disambiguation)