FRIEDLAND

FRIEDLAND , East European family originating in Bohemia, presumably from the Bohemian town Friedland (Frydlant). During the 17^th century nathan friedland was known as the "head of the community and head of the province of Bohemia." During the 19^th century, members of the family are found in Russia. meshullam feivel (1804–1854), a wealthy merchant of Slutsk, moved to Dvinsk in 1846 and was often among the delegates representing the communities of Lithuania before the authorities. His sons meir (d. 1902) and moses aryeh leib (1826–1899) moved to St. Petersburg, where they ranked among the wealthiest Jews and philanthropists in the community. Moses for more than 30 years was general army contractor for the Russian government. He founded a Jewish orphanage with a school of handicrafts in St. Petersburg, and erected an old-age home in Jerusalem. In 1892 he presented his collection of about 13,000 Hebrew books (including 32 incunabula) and 300 manuscripts which he had assembled over many years to the Asiatic Museum in St. Petersburg (now the Leningrad Institute for Oriental Studies). The thousands of Hebrew books already in the museum were combined with his collection, given the name of Bibliotheca Friedlandiana. The bibliographer S. *Wiener catalogued these books (up to the letter lamed) in Kohelet Moshe (8 pts., 1893–1936). The genealogy and some of the history of the family is given by I.T. Eisenstadt and S. Wiener in Da'at Kedoshim (1897).

bibliography:

S. Wiener, Kohelet Moshe, pt. 2 (1895), vii–xi.

[Yehuda Slutsky]