Simon, Heinrich

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SIMON, HEINRICH

SIMON, HEINRICH (1880–1941), German journalist and editor. Simon was the eldest son of Felix Simon, owner of Koenigsberger Allgemeine Zeitung, and Therese, whose father, Leopold Sonnemann, had founded the Frankfurter Zeitung. The family ran both papers. Baptized as a child, Simon later left the Church but never formally returned to Judaism. He studied philosophy, art history, and economics in Berlin, Freiburg/Breisgau, and Erlangen. In 1905 he earned his doctorate with a work on Novalis. Simon joined the Frankfurter Zeitung in 1906 and eventually controlled its liberal editorial policy. In 1931 he wrote Sonnemann's biography. Forced to resign from his post, Simon immigrated to Palestine via Paris in 1934. He was a friend of *Huberman and first manager in 1936 of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. In 1939 he retired and went to the U.S. His murder in Washington, in 1941, remains an unsolved mystery.

bibliography:

Frankfurter Zeitung und Handelsblatt 76, No. 805–7 (1931); E. Kahn, in: lbiyb, 2 (1957), 228–35; E. Feder, Heute sprach ich mit… (1971), index; bhde, 1 (1980), 700; B. von der Luehe, Die Musik war unsere Rettung (1998), index; ndb 22 (2005), 719*.

[Johannes Valentin Schwarz (2nd ed.)]