Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
(b Hamburg, 14 Nov 1805; d Berlin, 14 May 1847). German composer, pianist and conductor, sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn.

She was the eldest of four children born into a post-Enlightenment, cultured Jewish family. Of her illustrious ancestors, her great-aunts Fanny Arnstein and Sara Levy provided important role models, especially in their participation in salon life. Her paternal grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn, was the pivotal figure in effecting a rapprochement between Judaism and German secular culture. In Fanny Mendelssohn’s generation this movement resulted in the conversion of the immediate family to Lutheranism. Despite baptism, however, Fanny retained the cultural values of liberal Judaism.