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SIMONSEN, DAVID

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David Jacob Simonsen

University of Utrecht. In 1910 he was named member of the royal commission for the reform of penal law, criminal procedure and execution of sentences.

In 1888 Simons became editor of the juridical journal Palers van Justitie, in 1890 editor of the journal Themis. From 1898 on he edited Tijdschrift for Strafrecht, and after 1902 Weekblad van het Recht. His Leerboek van het Nederlandsch Strafrecht (1910-12) became the Dutch standard work of penal law. In 1929 Simons published Probleme van het Strafrecht.

In contrast to most of the specialists on penal law in continental Europe, Simons combined practical experience and theoretical thoroughness. He was a cautious progressive who endeavored to heed the demands of humanity and of public welfare.

SIMONS, JACOB BARNET, linguist and historian of literature, date and place of birth unknown. He studied at Wales University, and was the first secretary of the Welsh University Jewish Students Union. In the 1920's Simons was lecturer on modern literature at the Workers Educational Association and on modern languages at the Commercial Department, City of Portsmouth College. In 1928 he lectured at Southampton University College.

Simons published intelligent studies on John Galsworthy, George Bernard Shaw, and Lion Feuchtwanger. His principal work, Arnold Bennett and His Novels, blending philological erudition with psychological penetration, was published in 1936.

SIMONS, LION, author and literary patron, b. The Hague, Holland, 1862; d. The Hague, 1932.

He attended the Kensington Art School at London, later the Drawing Academy at The Hague, and the School of Polytechnics at Delft. Presently he embarked on journalism as an art critic of one of Holland's oldest dailies, the Oprechte Haarlemsche Courant. He became editor of Het Tooneel (The Stage), then left for England (1893) where he joined a firm of publishers. Seven years later he returned to Amsterdam; and from then on devoted all his time to sociological and artistic activities.

In 1905 Simons founded the Maatschappij voor Goede en Goedkoope Lectuur (Society for the Production of

Good and Low-Priced Literature) which operated one of the most influential cultural enterprises in The Netherlands. It published thousands of essays, novels and plays (in the original tongues and in translations) of French, German, English, Italian and other authorship.

Perhaps the most significant of Simon's own publications was an edition of the works of Joost van den Vondel, the foremost poet of Holland's culturally fertile seventeenth century; also his survey of the History of the Development of the Stage and Drama.

Simons wrote many books. The most important among those published are: Reserved Seats (1891); Vondel's Gijsbrecht (1893); George Meredith (1898); Studies and Lectures (1911); Vondel's Drama (1912); Condition and Power of the People (1916); Vondel's Philosophy of Life (1929); Development of the Stage and Drama (5 vols., 1921-32).

Under the pseudonym Albert de Vries, Simons published Three Anthologies of Morality Plays (1910), while Amsterdam in Pieces was published anonymously in 1891. He married Josine Adriana Mees, noted playwright, who was his staunch collaborator throughout his life. Simons was better known as Leo Simons, a figure of prime importance in the furtherance of Holland's cultural interests. As propagandist, teacher, politician, writer, journalist and publisher, he strove to bring art and literature to the masses.

SIMONS, MICHAEL, merchant, philanthropist and communal worker, b. London, 1842; d. Glasgow, 1925. As a lad, he entered the business his father, Benjamin Simons, founded at Glasgow.

It became one of the largest fruit importing firms in England. In the interest of the firm Simons traveled widely, visiting Southern Europe, the United States and Canada. He opened branches in other ports, and his great organizing skill enabled him not only to expand but also to lower the prices of oranges and other fruits to British consumers.

The king of Spain made him knight of the Order of Isabel the Catholic. In 1883 Simons became a member of the Glasgow City Council, and in 1887 he was elevated to the magistracy. Afterward he was deputy-lieutenant of Glasgow and justice of peace to the county of the city of Glasgow. Simons was one of the originators of the international exhibitions held at Glasgow in 1886 and 1901. In 1904 he became chairman of the council of the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts and took a leading part in the reconstruction of its galleries, which ranked with the finest in England. He also promoted the theatres of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Simons was keenly interested in Jewish communal work. He was one of the founders of the Garnethill Congregation and its honorary secretary. For some years, he was president of the Jewish Community of Glasgow. He supported many Jewish social and philanthropic organizations, and for many years he was president of the Glasgow Jewish Literary Society.

SIMONSEN, DAVID JACOB, rabbi, orientalist and bibliophile, b. Copenhagen, Denmark, 1853; d. Copenhagen, 1932. He was descended from a Jewish family native in Denmark for over 300 years.

He studied in Copenhagen (1870-74), and at the age of twenty-one entered the rabbinical seminary in Breslau, where he studied under Zacharias Frankel and Heinrich Graetz. He left the seminary in 1879 to become assistant rabbi to Abraham Wolff in Copenhagen.

He became chief rabbi of Denmark in 1893. Simonsen resigned his position in 1903 to devote himself to philanthropy and to scientific study, and built up his library, the more than 100,000 volumes of which form part of the Royal Library in Copenhagen (Biblio

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theca Simonsensiana). When Simonsen celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday (1928), King Christian decorated him with the golden service medal.

Simonsen contributed frequently to periodicals and Festschriften on theological, Oriental, historical and bibliographical subjects. He wrote a work on the Palmyrene sculptures and inscriptions preserved in the Copenhagen Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek (Danish and French; 1889). When the Mekitze Nirdamim publication society was reorganized (1908), Simonsen was elected its first chairman. From 1917 on he was associate editor of the Danish periodical Tidsskrift for Jodisk Historie og Literatur.

During the first World War Simonsen served in an important capacity with the international Jewish war aid, and after the War was over he became chairman of the Jewish World Relief Conference. He was a member of the executive board of the Alliance Israélite Universelle.

Among the treasures of the Bibliotheca Simonsensiana were five incunabula, including a special Soncino print of the year 1490; 800 volumes of responsa, partially handwritten in the 13th cent.; and an almost complete edition of the thirty volumes of the famous Amsterdam Peri Ez Hajim, the first known purely Jewish periodical (1728-61). There were also many valuable books and pamphlets on the Reform Movement and the emancipation of the Jews.

Lit.: C.-V. Zeitung, Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums, May 20, 1937; Fischer, Josef, Festsskrift i Anledning af Professor David Simonsen 70-aarige fødselsdag (1923); Jewish Chronicle (London), June 24, 1932; Bricka, Biografisk Leksikon; Moritzen, Julius, "The Passing of a Great Scholar," American Hebrew, Sept. 2, 1932, p. 290.

SIMONSEN, ROBERTO, banker, industrialist and engineer, b. Santos, Brazil, 1889. He received the degree of civil engineer from the Polytechnic School of São Paulo, Brazil (1909), worked as an engineer for the Southern Brazil Railroad (1909-10), as director general of the prefecture of Santos (1911-12), and as chief engineer of the Municipal Improvement Commission of Santos (1911-12), and became the president of several large syndicates and engineering firms. In recognition of his merits he was made the representative of the state of São Paulo on the Brazilian commercial mission to England and Brazilian delegate to the International Cotton Congress of Paris (both in 1919). He was professional delegate to the Constituent Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (1933), and served as federal deputy from 1924 to 1937. He was Commander of the Order Orange-Nassau of Holland.

Simonsen taught history of economics at the School of Sociology and Politics of São Paulo, and was author of numerous books, including: O municipio de Santos (1911); Os melhoramentos municipaes de Santos (1912); O trabalho moderno (1919); O calçamento de São Paulo (1923); 4 orientação industrial brasileira (1928); As financas e as industrias (1931); A construcção dos quarteis para o exercito (1931); Á margem da profissão (1932); Rumo á verdade (1933); Ordem economica e padrão de vida (1934); Aspectos da economica nacional (1935); Historia económica do Brasil (1937); A industria em face da economia nacional (1937); Brazil's Industrial Evolution (1939).

SIMONSON, LEE, scenic designer and writer, b. New York city, 1888. He received his A.B. degree from Harvard in 1909. During the first World War he served as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Interpreters. In 1919 Simonson was one of the founders of the Theatre Guild, of which he served as a director until 1940. As a result, most of his more important stage settings were done for that organization. It was his belief that "production" is as important as either script or players, and it was always his practice to em

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phasize this too-often ignored detail of theatrical production in each of his dramatic offerings.

Simonson served as director of the International Exhibition of Theatre Art, which was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1934). He was a director of both the Municipal Art Society of New York and the National Theatre and Academy, and his private costume collection was donated to the Museum of Costume Art in New York city, of which he was a founder, and of which he was still a director in 1943. During the New York World's Fair (1939-40), Simonson was a consultant for the Palestine Pavilion and was designer of the dioramas exhibited at the Pavilion. He also acted as consultant for three college theatres of importance in the American little theatre scene: the University of Wisconsin, the University of Indiana and Hunter College, New York.

Among Simonson's literary work, in addition to numerous articles and reviews in art and other cultural magazines, were The Stage Is Set (1932) and Minor Prophecies (1927). He was the co-author of Settings and Costumes of the Modern Stage (1933) and he contributed the articles on "Scenic Design" and "Stage Equipment" to the fourteenth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Simonson's illustrated autobiography, Part of a Lifetime, appeared in 1943. He was (1928-29) editor of Creative Art.

Simonson's contribution to the American cultural scene has been diverse and significant. As a designer of both scenic and interior architecture, he established himself as a creative force whose work profoundly affected the trend of contemporary design. As an author, critic and lecturer he did much to clarify and define those aesthetic considerations which characterize the American artistic scene. NORMAN BEL GEDDES.

Lit.: MacGowan, Kenneth, The Theatre of Tomorrow; Hume, J. J., and Fuerst, W. R., XXth Century Stage Decoration (1929); Brown, John Mason, Upstage (1930); Settings and Costumes of the Modern Stage (1933); FülopMüller, G., Das amerikanische Theater und Kino (1931); Moussinac, L., Tendances Nouvelles du Théâtre (1931).

SIMONYI, JENŐ, Hungarian geographer and author, b. Veszprém, Hungary, 1860. Completing his formal education at the University of Budapest, he was

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made professor at the Academy of Commerce (1880), serving in that capacity during many decades prior to the introduction of anti-Jewish laws (1938-39).

Simonyi wrote extensively on the natural sciences for publications at home and abroad. He translated into Magyar numerous foreign works dealing with geographical and geodetic subjects, including Ratzel's Anthropo-geography (1st section) and Leroy-Beaulieu's authoritative work dealing with Judaism and antiSemitic trends.

Among Simonyi's more widely recognized original writings in Hungarian are such volumes as A sarkvidéki felfedezések története (1890), a history of polar expeditions; Az uj világ (1890), a vivid description of the New World; A világkereskedelem (1899), an analysis of international commercial relations; Idegen népek között (3rd ed., 1905), being Simonyi's picturesque account of his experiences among strange peoples. His scientific papers appeared chiefly in scholarly journals: Budapesti Szemle, Földrajzi Közlemények, and Természettudományi Közlöny.

SIMONYI, ZSIGMOND, linguist, b. Veszprém, Hungary, 1853; d. Budapest, 1919. After receiving the Ph.D. degree from the University of Budapest and doing graduate work in Leipzig, Berlin and Paris, he became (1877) a private lecturer in the University of Budapest. In the following year the newly founded rabbinical seminary of Budapest appointed him a member of its staff. At the same time he became an associate professor in the university. Full professorship was bestowed on him in 1889 after he accepted the Christian faith.

Simonyi specialized in the morphology, syntax and purism of the Magyar tongue, which was then the state language of a population of twenty million and an important medium of assimilating the nationalities. He published many volumes which were awarded prizes by the Hungarian academy, and in 1898 he was recipient of the Francis Joseph Coronation Award. The important linguistic publications which he edited included a historical dictionary of the Magyar language (with Gábor Szarvas).

Simonyi's magnum opus is the first exhaustive and systematic grammar of the Hungarian language, based on sound historical principles, the phonetical part of which was written in collaboration with József Balassa. As an academic teacher of influence he became the head of a school of Hungarian philology. His works as a whole may be regarded as a scientific corollary of the national-popular school of Hungarian poetry.

In the anti-Semitic counter revolution (1919) this exponent of the most patriotic branch of scholarship had to suffer, at the age of sixty-six, the ordeal of disciplinary investigation by the Hungarian academy which probed into his political beliefs. Simonyi died (November, 1919) of the attendant shock.

SIMSON, eighteenth cent. family of merchants in New York city. NATHAN SIMSON (d. London, 1725) resided in New York between 1706 and 1722. In 1718 he was elected and sworn in as constable of South Ward, New York. He left a will, recorded in Somerset House, London, from which it appears that he owned large shares in the South Sea Company of Great Britain and had relatives in Bonn, Germany, and in Amsterdam.

JOSEPH SIMSON (b. 1686; d. New York city, 1787) was a nephew of Nathan Simson. He came to New York in 1718 and lived with his uncle for about a year and a half after his arrival. He was made a freeman in New York under the act of 1723, and became a naturalized citizen in 1740. He belonged to the

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Orange County Regiment of New York volunteers, organized about 1738. Throughout his life Joseph Simson was closely connected with Congregation Shearith Israel, of which he was president for several terms. He appears to have been scholarly and learned in Hebrew, carrying on a correspondence with Dr. Kennicott of Oxford and Dr. Cooper, president of King's (later Columbia) College. He also conducted a correspondence in Hebrew with the Jews of China. He married Rebecca Isaacs (or Isaacks) in 1722, and they had two sons and a daughter. A miniature painting of Joseph Simson, done by a French artist, shows his appearance at a very advanced age.

SAMPSON SIMSON (b. New York city, about 1725; d. New Yory city, 1773) was the elder son of Joseph Simson. He was one of the founders and a distinguished member of the New York Chamber of Commerce, and one of the most prominent New York merchants of the time. He owned several ships which carried on an extensive foreign trade. Colonial records refer to him as "a remarkably pious and conscientious Jew, celebrated for punctuality and strict honesty." He died unmarried, whereupon his brother Solomon and other surviving relatives continued to carry on his many business enterprises.

SOLOMON SIMSON (b. New York city, 1738; d. New York city, 1801) was the second son of Joseph Simson. He was partner of his brother in business, and took an active part, as trustee and elector, in the affairs of Congregation Shearith Israel. During the Revolution he moved to Connecticut, together with a number of Jewish families, when the British occupied the city. In 1768 he married Sarah Mears. They had two sons and three daughters: Sampson, Joseph, Rebecca, Jochebed and Ellen. Jochebed married the Reverend Ansel Leo, reader of the Bnai Jeshurun Congregation of New York city.

Lit.: Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 2 (1894) 83; No. 3 (1895) 81; No. 10 (1902) 109-10; No. 11 (1903) 91-92, 155-56; No. 25 (1917) 8791; No. 27 (1920) 371, 373.

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SIMSON, BERNHARD VON, historian, b. Königsberg, Germany, 1840; d. Berlin, 1915. He was the son of Eduard von Simson. He studied history, as a pupil of Ranke, from 1856, and after his graduation became lecturer at the University of Jena (1863).

From 1869 to 1872 he was recorder at the archives of Düsseldorf, and from 1877 to 1905 professor of history at the University of Freiburg. In 1907 Simson was named a member of the general directorate of the Monumenta Germaniae. Simson was the last representative of Ranke's school in Germany. He mastered critical methods in editing historical sources, mainly of the Middle Ages and composing the historical records of the German emperors Charlemagne and Louis the Pious. He wrote the sixth volume of Giesebrecht's Geschichte der deutschen Kaiserzeit (1895), and edited his father's Lebenserinnerungen (1900).

In 1887 he was elected member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Simon's critical masterpiece was the discovery of the forgeries of Le Mans, which were considered the work of Bishop Isidorus until Simson bared their spuriousness in 1886.

SIMSON, MARTIN EDUARD SIGISMUND VON, German statesman, and teacher of law, b. Königsberg, Germany, 1810; d. Berlin, 1899. He was the son of Jewish parents, his mother having been a niece of David Friedländer. Simson was baptized in 1823. His brother, August Simson, became a Lutheran professor of theology. Simson was closely allied with the German unification movement, and acted as chairman at its meetings, his pleasing personality, ready wit, keen perception and oratorical gifts making him an asset. He was president of the Frankfort National Assembly (1848-49), of the Reichstag of the North German Union, and of the German Reichstag (186774). He served also as the first president of the German Supreme Court (1879-91), and was the founder and chairman of the Goethe Society (1885-99). He headed the delegation which, in 1849, announced to Frederick William IV his election as German emperor, as well as the delegation which, in 1870, tendered the same title to King William I of Prussia. In 1888 Simson received the title of the hereditary nobility. He played only an inconspicuous role as writer and legislator.

Lit.: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 54, pp. 348-64; Meyer, A., in Biographisches Jahrbuch, vol. 4 (1900) 307-17; Simson, Bernhard von, Eduard von Simson, Erinnerungen aus seinem Leben (1900); Goethe-Jahrbuch, vol.

21, p. 4.

SIMSON, PAUL, historian, b. Elbing, Germany, 1869; d. Danzig, 1917. He received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Berlin in 1891, became teacher at the municipal college of Danzig, and in 1906 was appointed professor. Simson was the first modern historian of the city of Danzig. He published (1903-16) four volumes of a large Geschichte der Stadt Danzig, and numerous special inquiries into the political and cultural history of Danzig, East Prussia, Pomerania and Poland. Simson was loyal to Judaism, and professed liberalism in politics. He was a member of the city council of Danzig, and launched a movement for the conservation of historical architecture in that city.

SIN. The provision in the book of Leviticus (chaps. 4 and 5) for sin-offerings by the ancient Hebrews and the universal appeal of the Day of Atonement show clearly that the acknowledgement of sin and the desire to attain forgiveness have a prominent place in Jewish thinking. It should be borne in mind that Judaism does not affirm the existence of sin per se. It is always something which man, commits.

Martin Eduard S. von Simson

Among the Hebrew words used to denote sin are het, 'avon and pesha. Originally het meant the missing of the goal or of the mark, as in Prov. 19:2, which may be translated literally: "He that hasteth with his feet loseth the way." In the Hithpael verbal form it means "to be bewildered." 'Avon means crookedness or perversion of the right order. The most grievous sin is pesha, or rebellion. The verb is used in II Kings 1:1 in reference to Moab's rebellion against Israel, but in the theological sense it means rebellion against God and man's better nature. By implication, this sin is a denial of the basic principle of religion, the existence of God and His providence.

In the Scriptures the most extreme sinfulness is always regarded as rebellion. The generation of Noah, the builders of the Tower of Babel and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were rebels against the divine will. Sodom and Gomorrah were the scene of the three cardinal sins, idolatry, adultery and murder (Midrash Num. 7:10).

The general term "idolatry" includes pride (Mechilta 72a), which in itself is a denial of complete dependence on God. The prophecy of Isaiah opens with the declaration (Isa. 1:2) that Israel has rebelled against his Heavenly Father. Similarly, Ezekiel (Ezek. 20:13-26) interprets Israel's transgression even in the wilderness as rebellion. "But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they walked not in My statutes, and they rejected Mine

ordinances."

Judaism holds that sins are committed against God, society and the individual. Man is admonished to flee from even the slightest infraction of the divine law (Aboth 4:2). But when he does sin it is necessary for him to seek forgiveness from God. On the Day of Atonement such forgiveness is granted to the sincerely repentant sinner (Yoma 85a), but if his sin is against one of his fellow men he must first endeavor to be reconciled with him.

Because of the oft-repeated statements in Amos (Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6) it is commonly believed that God will forgive man's repetition of sin only thrice. When it is committed the fourth time man must bear the full consequence of his wrongdoing. However, it is specifically stated (Yoma 85a) that if a man says: "I will sin and repent, then sin and repent again," he will find repentance beyond his power. Recitation of one's own sins is regarded as arrogance (Ber. 34b). Hence the Al Het litany in the Day of Atonement ritual is regarded as confession of communal transgression.

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From a 15th-Century Illuminat. Hagg

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