Furmanovsky Family |
The
Furmanovsky
family lived in Kupiskis from quite early on.
Depending on where they settled afterwards, their name has sometimes
changed over the years to Furman, Forman, and other such spellings.
The earliest known member of the Furmanovsky family that is shown in the Kupiskis records is Orel-Aron ben Leyba Furmanovsky, married to Rochel and the father of Scheine, Berko Leyba, Rubin, Mere, Chaim, and Abel (Abe).
His daughter Scheine
Furmanovsky married Joseph Blekher and had one known son, Kivel
Furmanovsky. Two of his children, Mary Furmanovsky Riback and Nachman
Blecher, settled in South Africa.
Son, Rubin Furmanovsky, married Chirle and
had two sons.
Their
eldest son was Aaron Furmanovsky, who married Sora Nechama, daughter
of Hirsh Padowitz.
The Padowitz family was also from Kupiskis
and, one of them, Harold Padow, was head of the Kupiskis
landsmannschaftn group that operated in New York City.
Aron and Sora Nechama had three daughters,
all of whom used the name Forman and lived in New York.
The
youngest son was Abe Furman, who died in Johannesburg in 1937.
Daughter, Mere Furmanovsky, born in 1842, married Shmuel Yuter and had
nine children in Kupiskis: Sora Gitka (Joffe), Rasa Leah (Snieg),
Lipsha, Beila (Zal), Chaya (Glezer), Leib, Abel, Moshe and Samuel
Solomon Yuter. Her son, Samuel Solomon Yuter, married Rose Levitz of
the well-known American furniture company. He settled in various
small towns in Pennsylvania, owned a newspaper and media corporation,
and changed the family name from Yuter to Etter. Mere's son, Moshe
Yuter, also changed his name to Etter and became a prominent rabbi in
Harrisburg, PA. He is mentioned in the book by
Berl Kagan which is entitled: Yidishe Shtet, shtetlekh
un dorfishe yishuvim in Lite: biz 1918.
Son, Chaim Furmanovsky, born 1852, married Sheina-Rivka and had seven children: Berel (Dov-Ber), Mira, Harry (Hillel), Ida (Chaya), Daniel, Aaron, and Joe (Yehoshua Josef). Discussion of some of the descendants of this branch of the Furmanovsky family is discussed below. The last child of Orel-Aron Furmanovsky was Abel (or Abe) Furmanovsky, 1855-1937, who settled in South Africa. His son was David Furmanovsky who met his future wife Sarah Shribnick when he was coming over to South Africa. Upon arrival, he thereupon married her and changed his name to Forman and settled in Johannesburg. Their son was Lionel Forman, 1927-1959, who gained fame and recognition as an anti-apartheid activist, brilliant lawyer and journalist in South Africa. He died at age 31 while undergoing heart surgery utilizing the new heart-lung by-pass machine developed by Prof. Christiaan Barnard in 1959. His wife, Sadie Kril, was the daughter of Rokiskis-born Yiddish poet Bunim-Idel Kril. |
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Lionel
Forman, 1927-1959 |
| The
descendants of Yehoshua Josef "Josel" Furmanovsky ended up in
Zimbabwe. Known as Joe Furmanovsky, you can read more about him at Vignettes
from Africa. |
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Ronnie Furmanovsky and Avner Elkaim Engagement, September 28, 1954, Zimbabwe
As you can see, the young couple, Ronnie and Avner, who were in the story in Vignettes from Africa, eventually got engaged and married and lived in Zimbabwe. Ronnie's father was indeed Yehoshua Josef "Joe" ben Chaim Furmanovsky the man on the train station platform. He was born in Kupiskis on April 8, 1895. He left and went to Zimbabwe where he passed away on May 12, 1961 in Bulawayo. (Donated by Ronnie Furmanovsky in memory of her beloved husband, Avner, who passed away on November 11, 2006) |
| Several of Joe Furmanovsky's accomplished and
talented grandchildren, Ilan Elkaim, Jill Furmanovsky and Michael
Furmanovsky can be seen at Kupishokers in the
Cultural,Entertainment,
and Performing Arts |
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A Furmanovsky family portrait. L to r, back row: Avner Elkaim, Joe Furmanovsky, Chana Grill Furmanovsky, Lola Furmanovsky, Jane Furmanovsky Lipschitz, Ilana Lipschitz, Ronnie Furmanovsky Elkaim, Eva Pribash Furmanovsky. L to r: front row: Jill Furmanovsky, Ilan Elkaim, Michael Furmanovsky, David Lipschitz |
| Photos are contributed by Michael Furmanovsky in honor of his family. |
| The wedding
of Eta Reiza “Rose” Klos and Zalman-Schneur Furmanovsky
Forman was a large and vibrant family affair. At the time of the
wedding, the groom, Zalman-Schneur Furmanovsky, who became known as
Forman in Africa, was living in Wankie (now Hwange), Zimbabwe. This was
not far from his paternal uncle and aunt Yehoshua "Joe" and
Chana "Annie" Furmanovsky, who lived in Livingston,
Zambia. The bride, Eta Reiza "Rose" Klos, the daughter
of Rabbi Moshe Klos and Leah Katz Klos, originally from Ukmerge,
Lithuania, was living in the small town of Gwanda, Zimbabwe, with her
maternal aunt Dreyze "Dora" Katz Lerman and her husband
Mause-Kalman Lerman. Due to having many relatives in the area, a nice shul and larger facilities for a family wedding, it was decided that the Furmanovsky family would host the wedding at their home in Livingston, Zambia. The wedding photo was taken in the garden of the home on Sunday, February 25, 1940. You will note that several of the men do not appear to have wives with them. For two of them, Herschel Mandel and Abe Esroch, this was due to the fact that their wives and children were still in Kupiskis and were caught there when the war came in 1941. They survived and settled in Israel and their remarkable story will be told in another place. |
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Eta-Reiza
“Rose” Klos and Zalman-Schneur Furmanovsky Forman Left to Right
- Top Row: Herschel Mandel (husband of Sora bat Berel Furmanovsky), Shmuel-David
ben Berel Furmanovsky (brother of groom), Abe Esroch (husband of Mikhle
bat Berel Furmanovsky), David Golub (son of Yehoshua "Joe"
Furmanovsky’s sister, whose name is not known), Leiba ben Zacharia
Grossman (half-brother of Chana "Annie" Grill Furmanovsky). |
