Uriasz Wolfowicz Szeftel (1874–1944)
Photographer, owner of photography studios in Lublin, at 60 and 24 Krakowskie Przedmieście Street.
Index
[Collapse]Uriasz Wolfowicz Szeftel was born in 1874, in Kyiv, where his family lived for a few years. His father was an accountant and notary public; he also wrote biblical commentaries, articles and poems in Hebrew. Uriasz had no formal education, he was self-taught. He was also fluent in Russian. At the age of 21, he left Kyiv and became a photographer. He is known to have worked at a studio in Smolensk, where he met Anna Kowner. They got married and went to Starokostiantyniv where Szeftel open his studio in Alexandrovska Street. His wife was probably assisting him in this and subsequent studios.
Two addresses in Lublin
In 1911, the photographer and his family came to Lublin. By then, he already had two sons, Mojżesz Marzec (born 1902) and Izaak Artur (born 1904), and a daughter Tatiana (born 1908). On 19 December 1911, he requested permission from the municipal authorities to open a photography studio. The studio functioned at 60, Krakowskie Przedmieście Street, except for a break of about two years that the family spent in Vitebsk. In 1915, Szeftel’s atelier was up and running in Lublin again. Today it is difficult to establish the exact date but at some point in the 1920s, Szeftel’s studio was moved to the building at 24, Krakowskie Przedmieście Street. The previous location was taken over by Eliasz Funk and his “Bernardi” company.
Recognition from His Imperial Highness
Szeftel ran his studio in Lublin most probably until he and his whole family emigrated to Belgium. Among his clients, there were persons of various religious and social backgrounds. The photographs preserved in the collections of individual collectors and institutions include portraits of families, infants, newlyweds, military men, officials, Orthodox clergymen, Catholic nuns.
Szeftel also took pictures of Lublin. On the reverse side of photographs from Starokostiantyniv and Lublin, he wrote that he was a proud recipient of awards from His Imperial Highness and President of the French Republic. In 1916, a series of 27 postcards appeared (featuring Lublin, among other localities). Signed with the initials U.W.Sz., they are attributed to Szeftel.
In Lublin, he promoted his studio in Polish-language Jewish press and Polish advertising periodicals. He was member of the Lublin Consumers’ Cooperative (in Polish: Lubelska Spółdzielnia Spożywców). His old son described him as a handsome man who resembled Leonid Andreyev, a Russian novelist and playwright.
From the end of December 1922, Uriasz Szeftel traveled between Lublin and Antwerp with his son Izaak Artur. He settled in Antwerp permanently in 1924 and by 1925, was living at 42 Lange Kievitstraat (family home and studio), with his wife and sons (their daughter Tatiana died in Lublin in 1917).
Uriel was listed as a professional photographer in Antwerp:
Cheftel, Urjel (Szeftel) Kievitstraat 18 (Lange), 1920-1930.
In the Antwerp business directory from 1927-1930, his studio is listed as “Photographie Moderne Cheftel J”.
In 1937, his studio is listed as “ Photo Moderne, Szeftel M”1.
We know that Uriel died in unknown circumstances in Lyon on November 12, 1944. Anna Kowner died in an unknown location between 1942-1945. Both are victims of the Holocaust.
Their sons, Izaak Artur and Moise Mark Szeftel, survived the Holocaust. Both emigrated to the United States.
Literature
Taylor-Terlecka N., Rusycysta i jego cztery kultury. Żydzi wschodniej Polski, seria 4, Uniwersytet w Białymstoku, Białystok 2016.
Bogdziewicz R., Fotografia na Lubelszczyźnie na tle fotografii europejskiej i krajowej w latach 1839–1918, Wyższa Szkoła Społeczno-Przyrodnicza w Lublinie, Lublin 2018.
Dybek A., O lubelskim maturzyście z powieści gorszyciela Ameryki, „Dziennik Wschodni”, 26 kwietnia 2019.
Footnotes
- Go back to the reference Thanks to Spoorzoeker - Peter Eyckerman for the information (https://spoorzoeker.petereyckerman.be/).
