Martin Luther Was Among the Synagogue of Satan!

One More Reason Why I Don't Just Allow Comments Anymore

I don't allow people to make themselves like Perry Hall (apparently a Krystal Keith fan) to look like fools (and good luck to you, Perry Hall; people tend to judge you by the kind of people who you like and why you like them):

"PerryHall has left a new comment on your post "Blocked By Krystal Keith: aka, I'm Very Honored Th...": 

Apparantly she is at the very least trying to make something of herself. Riding her father's coattails?! And you? Riding your father's & mother's coattails. Where would you be without their hard earned money etc. One shouldn't throw stones if you live in a glass house. And I wouldn't be so honored you got blocked; you are making quite the reputation for yourself online...and it ain't good. "

First of all, I have a disability. I can't work. My dad doesn't do anything for me, either, secondly. Thirdly, I'm in college. Fourthly, if I'm making a reputation by warning about people like Krystal Keith and her dad (who explains a lot about her), good. I don't have time to be silent about vainglorious people--especially influential vaingloriers-- who use the banner of the Gospel and Christianity as a cover to do whatever they want.

By the way, use a spellchecker  Perry Hall--"Apparently" is the correct word. Grammar usage also helps you get your point across.

"Is Greg Gutfeld Anti-Catholic"?

As far as I know, no. He has stated that he is agnostic, though (including as Wikipedia states). This may stem from the fact that he's Jewish, was raised Catholic, and fits right in with many Anusim v'b'nai-Anusim (including many of my own cousins, one of whom was raised Catholic and is now a Taoist. What do you call Jewish Taoists, anyway? We don't have funny names like "HindJew" or "BuJew" for Jewish Taoists, do we? Does "Jaoist" or "Jewist" really work? How about "TaoJew"? Anyway, I have nothing as far as funny names for Taoist Jews.).

.jewornotjew

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is greg gutfeld anti-catholic

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r1a1a1 dna august 2012

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More Proof That We're Jewish

I've posted Granduncle Tony's whole e-mail before. But I've (I think) hardly dissected and analyzed the letter as fully as possible. So, here's more analysis, as I gave to a friend per the seeming contradiction between an infrequent letter and a no-contact relationship:

Granduncle Tony did say, "Periodically a church pastor would run a heritage trip back to Poland for a group. Very few of those who immigrated would return. Occasionally someone "in the family" in America would join a relative for the return trip, Usually meeting the Polish or Slovak relatives for the first time and occasionally maintaining a letter writing relationship afterwards. This DID NOT happen in our family.

"There was not very much correspondence with the Polish family. Only an infrequent letter. There were no exchanges other than through the Polish Church which would have clothing drives and send clothes to Poland in general, but not to specific family members. Bertha's photos which came after the trips were the only contact until they asked for the deed to be changed in the mid 1960's."

I suppose that any letters either were letters from us that they refused to answer or letters from them that came through Bertha Wawrzyn.

As Granduncle Tony describes, "I never seen nor did anyone mention anything special brought from Poland. A friend from Sugar Notch, Mrs. Bertha Wawrzyn, visited Poland every few years to see her family and would visit the family while there. All she ever brought back were photos that she took of the Polish Czarnecki's (see earlier comments)."

Some Jews and gentiles did have the attitude of, "You can befriend them; but don't marry them, and don't believe what they believe." As far as I know, Bertha was a Catholic gentile, and we were obviously Crypto Jews--most of the family back home was openly Jewish and Non-Messianic Jewish.

Flouting G-d's Voice Was A Mistake, And...

Nur wasn't the one. When G-d says "He [a guy, or--in a guy's case--She (a girl)] is not the one", He means it. So, Nur and I are no longer together; and I'm not getting into another relationship unless (G-d willing) a guy is really the one for me, though that breakup was hard on me and Nur. Lesson--to never flout G-d's voice--learned.

The Truth Is That...

If the guy who loves me is of the Jadid Al-Islam and becomes a Christian, I want everything to work out between us. I even did not let him hang out in my room with me because, as I told him, I don't want either or both of us in an awkward position. After all, my roommates (all of whom completely deserve to get locked out of my room, anyway) are not going to be there; so there is nobody there to hold me, him, or both of us accountable. I'm not completely clean in all this.

I'm a little affected by this guy. He's a romantic who (I hope) truly loves me for me (although he, as a Mohammedan, can't possibly love me for me unless he has the Holy Spirit in him--after all, true love of any and every kind comes from G-d, not "Allah" or whoever else). Maybe he is truly predestined to be a Christian and be my bashert (though, as I stated, I will not marry somebody who is not at least 1/16th Jewish--I am not bringing about the Anusi's nightmare of having his or her descendants' lines cut off from Israel.). So, he'd better be Jewish as well. But if he is not a Christian, I categorically and emphatically refuse to even get into a relationship with him.

By the way, he agreed that being alone in my room would put us both in an awkward position and, thus, not be good. So, he knows what is good--even though he has, like all humans (and even those with the Holy Spirit) have, no inherit goodness (and any goodness in any human comes from the Holy Spirit). Therefore, as I stated, I want everything to work out between us if he is of the Jadid Al-Islam and becomes a Christian.  

Someone's Way Too In Love (Written A Way While Back, Though My Opinion Of Ann, etc. Is Unchanged)

Without giving his name, I can tell you that someone's way too in love with me. Firstly, we have different goals in life. He plans to name his sons (as I recall) "Mohammed" and "Ibrahim"; I'm planning to name mine (if I have any sons) Bernie (unless I name a dog "Bernye" for Great-Granduncle Bernie and Barney Bush) and Julian or Julius (And to Ann McGill-Mones, you're crazy if you think that I've forgotten--and I'm not sorry to break to you that your in-law cousin Paschal Danilowicz is Jewish, a part of my family [since he is a part of the Krasne Danilowiczes], and will always be Jewish and a part of my family--even though he was religiously Catholic and is no longer here on this Earth.).

As for daughters, I don't think that this guy plans on having any. I, on the other hand and if I have daughters, plan to name at least one "Alexandria Alice" and another "Mary" (maybe "Mary Theresa" for Great-Grandma Czarnecki, but "Mary" for both Aunt Mary and Great-Grandma Czarnecki)--or maybe "Maryam", so that no confusion arises (After all, Mary's original name was "Maryam bat-Eli".).

As far as both genders go, no variant of "Mohammed" will ever be on my lips. I could live with naming a boy "Ibrahim", though, since it's a variant of "Avraham". But never will I name a child, boy or girl, any variant of "Mohammed".

This guy is also a Mohammedan who spends more time around his Syrian-Albanian-Turkish Mohammedan dad and other Mohammedan relatives. Granted that his family could be a part of the Jadid Al-Islam (the Mizrahi equivalent of Marranos [Sephardim] and Ashkenazim Anusim [and what you would call us really depends on what country you go to; but you would call us some equivalent of "New Christians"]). After all, he doesn't know what his family practiced before they converted to Mohammedism. Nonetheless, he is a devout Mohammedan (not Orthodox, but--if you will--Reform ["Moderate"] Mohammedan).

He also comes from an interfaith home. I've mentioned his dad; and as for his mom, I've been told by him that she is an Irish-Italian Methodist. As for me, I also come from an interfaith home (in which the dad is an Ashkenazi Anusi, and the mom is a PCA Presbyterian who is a mainly-Irish-Catholic-turned-Episcopalian of Jewish descent--which she sadly couldn't give two s**ts about). I'm amazed that his home hasn't broken up yet; whereas my Anusi dad has been divorced from my mom since 1998, and ironically remarried to a Southern Baptist since 2004 (and, as far as I know, a gentile Southern Baptist at that). So, I don't want another broken home in my line (and mine isn't the only one; trust me.).

I also, especially if he's not of Jadid al-Islam or otherwise of Jewish descent, don't plan on marrying him and getting my line cut off from Israel. Unless the Pundts aren't the only ones who are Jewish on Mom's side (and as far as I know and can confirm, Mom-Mom's generation is the final Jewish generation [1/16th Jewish]), I risk further cutting my line off from Israel on Mom's side. As for Dad's side, we've had (and we're having) close brushes with being cut off from Israel, and complete cutoffs from Israel. Dad was blessed (even if won't acknowledge that he) was blessed to be born of two Anusim who surprisingly weren't born of goyim, but were born of other Anusim

(And especially if neither of them were specfically seeking out other Anusim, that they found each other is a miracle. Then again, I highly doubt that the daughter of Michael "We're Russian" Gaydos and the son of pogrom survivor Anthony Czarnecki weren't seeking out fellow Anusim--after all, Michael Gaydos made a bold move to implicitly identify with Soviet Jewry during the Cold War, and Anthony Czarnecki's mother went absolutely meshuga over her ben marrying who she considered the shiksa Mary Trudnak. Also, Anthony's son Tony was criticized for marrying Mary Ellen Jones--"She's Irish!" So, I'd be even more surprised if Joan Gaydos and John "Jack" Czarnecki weren't seeking fellow Anusim for themselves.).

In conclusion, this guy who loves me way too much obviously loves me way too much--and way too much so for each and both of our goods. He ought to find a Mohammedan girl who will love him or a Methodist girl who's willing to get into an interfaith and interethnic marriage. I myself plan to find a Jewish Christian who will love me and make sure that my line is not cut off from Israel.

By the way, b'hatzlacha to my family who brush close to or past the 1/16th mark--I am not at fault if your descendants are merely gentiles of Jewish descent. Alexandria Czarnecki, Michael Gaydos, and others did not entirely drop their Jewishness when they became Anusim--they may not have gotten their wish that their b'nei v'banot would revert to being openly-Jewish Non-Messianic Jews (which was the wish of at least the Non-Messianic Anusim), but let's make sure that they didn't die as Anusim in vain (and while only the Non-Messianic Anusim would consider having believing descendants to be a sign that they died in vain, all of them would consider having gentile descents and their lines cut off from Israel as a sign that they died in vain).

Geraldo Rivera Is Not a Roman Catholic

Meanwhile, at least I know what I'm going to here on the podcast now. Anyway, being born to a Roman or other (e.g., Byzantine) Catholic does not make one a Catholic. Geraldo is a Reform Jew, although his dad (the late Cruz Rivera) was a Puerto Rican Roman Catholic. Geraldo himself has stated that he was raised "mostly Jewish". His mom, Lillian Rivera nee Lillie Friedman, is an Ethnic and Religious Jew; and (as Geraldo stated) she wanted Cruz to convert to Judaism if and when she married him, but "he never got around to" it or stopped being a Catholic layman.

Catholicism is not an ethnic grouping, whereas Jewishness is. Besides, I have a claim to Catholicism more than Geraldo does, but I myself am not a Catholic. Like Geraldo, though, I was born in an interfaith home--which eventually became a broken, divorced-parent, single-mom home. I, specifically, was born to an Anusi Ashkenazi dad and a mostly-Irish Roman-turned-English Catholic (Episcopalian) home (Mom, though, is of Jewish descent--at least through the Siedenburg-Mueller Pundts. They eventually became Anusi Protestants as well, since they had their daughter Betha Mueller baptized; and Great-Great-Granddad Pundt became Roman Catholic when he married the Irish-American Mary Ellen Green. So, Mom's mom is Jewish; but given that Mom is only 1/32 Jewish--so far as we know--she's of Jewish descent, but not Jewish.

(Mom could be Jewish, however, if--for example--Pop-Pop "McCoy" [Mom's paternal grandma's maternal granddad] was a Sephardic Jew--regardless of that he [assuming that he was Jewish] an Anusi Catholic.).

I'm, therefore, descended on both sides from Catholics--regardless of that they were a mix of Anusi and genuine, Jewish and gentile, Roman and Non-Roman Catholics. Geraldo does not have this claim. Let's also assume, just for hypotheticality's sake, that his granddad Juan Rivera--who was an Ethnic Spaniard--was actually a Sephardic Jew and Anusi Catholic. The claim that Geraldo claims to have on being Catholic would be even less; especially since Anusim really don't count as Catholic (unless, of course, they're truly Catholics who are just hiding their Ethnic Jewishness; but that is another discussion)--and I say the same of my Anusi relatives (including living relatives): unless they truly believed (or believe) Catholicism and were (or are) just hiding their Ethnic Jewishness, they were not (or are not) truly Catholic.

I was also baptized as a Roman Catholic and raised as an English Catholic, and became saved in the graveyard of Christ Episcopalian Church on Easter Day 1996 or 1997 (I still have that memory of Mom and the then-pastor Jen talking in the parking lot while I, in a blue dress and white shirt under the dress, was praying by Miriam Thomann's grave--not to or through Miriam, in case anyone is wondering; but Miriam's legacy did affect me to become saved. Incidentally, her dad--Ron--has long since been deceased, but I'm not sure whether he's buried next to her. Also, I don't know whether Miriam's mom--Alma--is still alive.).

In conclusion, Geraldo Rivera is less Catholic than I am--and I'm not religiously Catholic; though I descended from both Jewish (including Anusi) and gentile Catholics, and was baptized and raised as a Catholic.

geraldo rivera a practicing catholic

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geraldo rivera i'm a catholic

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Yeah....No....

There is no proof that we're related to the Romanovs. Russian, yes. Polish, yes. Jewish by ethnicity, and the former two (as well as Hungarian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian, among other types of citizens in Eastern Europe) by citizenship, yes and yes. Romanovs? No...and there's no proof that Stefan Czarniecki (to whom we can't even trace our family tree back) was related to the Romanovs.

czarniecki family romanov family	1
czarniecki family romanov family related	1

PS When you find proof that the Czarnieckis or Czerneckis, Uszinskys, Gajdoszes, etc. were related to the Romanovs, please, let me know. By the way, I did see my mispacha from Switzerland. Shalom alecheim, and I'm sorry that I didn't acknowledge you before. By the way, as a PolishForums guy stated, "Andrius is lithuanian equivalent of russian Andrei which comes from greek. Andriulis in lithuanian means 'little Andrius' or 'dear Andrius'. Andriulis + evičius= Andriulevičius. I checked my LIthuanian surnames dictionary and there are a lot of different surnames with root Andr-, and Andrulevičius(without "i") almost exclusively comes from this little town STAKLISKES. Hope it helps."

So, we're Litvaks. Does this help? Incidentally, I'm very Litvake--more intellectual than emotional. 

   

Sirnach, Thurgau arrived from google.ch on "The Nicole Factor: To Begin, Pop-Pop's A Murderer As Well as A Self-Dreading Jew Who Is Ungrateful To His Philosemitic gentile Mother" by searching for andrulewicz.

18:36:08 -- 4 days 1 hour ago

My Foczko Coat Of Arms

I, by using Microsoft Powerpoint, made this with the help of both G-d and the Temple Institute, clip art from Powerpoint, and Google being consulted.

The Hebrew (with Google Translate) reads "Sh'ma Yisra'el". 

So, My Blog Went Offline For A Day...

To make a long story short, a certain family member got pissed at me for confronting a certain group that blackmailed me and threatened my life....so much for confronting racist Anti Semitism--and can you imagine if Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. hadn't stood up for Civil Rights, including against the KKK (who, by the way, is a "Christian" Identity--viz. Pseudo-Jewish, Anti-Semitic--group)? (And just because that other, Non-White Pseudo-Jewish group threatened me, I'm not allowed to talk about them--and this same family member allows that Dr. King, who plagiarized at least a paper, stood up against racism and Anti Semitism just because he had credentials and was [apparently] a trained and educated professional--what hypocrisy! I guarantee that he or she would have no problem with me confronting the KKK, even though he or she denies that--and his or her excuse is the same!).

So, I can no longer speak up against a certain kind of racist Anti Semitism (even though we have no national voice, excepting Mark Potok--although his voice is hardly there and, thus, hardly heard--on the issue) due to the fact that I'm merely a disabled college student and certainly no MLK or Jay Sekulow, or Mark Potok (who, as leftist as he is, is a politically-"incorrect" voice who speaks up against what I was--operative word, "was"--speaking up against). By the way, that--that is, speaking up against the racist Anti Semitism about which I used to speak--is part of why (G-d willing) I wish to get my Christmas gifts, get married to a rich and able guy who is able to pay for the rest of my college career (and who, if you will and for a lack of better wordage, would make a nice Christmas gift), and get out of where I am now.

Thank G-d that this family member wasn't a family member of Timothy or Jeremiah, by the way.

Are We Done Yet, Wikipedia?

Rafail Levitsky

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky
Portrait by Ilya Repin (1878) Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum Art Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
Born	1847 St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	1940 Leningrad, Soviet Union
Nationality	Russian Empire, Levite[1]
Field	painter, photographer
Training	Imperial Academy of Arts, Saint Petersburg
Movement	Peredvizhniki, Realism, Romantic, Genre, Impressionism
Patrons	Alexander II of Russia, Alexander III of Russia, Nicholas II of Russia,Napoleon III

Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky (or Rafael Sergeevich Levitsky, or Raphael Sergeevich Levitsky; Russian: Рафаи́л Сергее́вич Леви́цкий; 1847–1940) was a Russian genre, romantic, and impressionist artist who was an active participant in the Peredvizhniki (Itinerant) Movement.

His letters to his artist friend Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov 1844-1927 are a personal account of many of the key figures in Russian art who exhibited during their lifetime.

Rafail was born into a wealthy aristocratic family. He was married to Anna Vasilevna Olsufevsky. He was the second cousin of Aleksandr Ivanovich Herzen (1812–1870), the writer and outstanding public figure; and son to Count Sergei Lvovich Levitsky (1819–1898), one of the founders of photography in Russia and Europe's early photographic pioneers.

He was friend to author Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828–1910) who visited and stayed with him and his wife on several occasions.

Rafail Levitsky was also an art professor and an acclaimed photographer, most noted for his portraits of the ill fated family of Czar Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia.

Contents   [hide]  1 Education 2 Teacher 3 The Association of Peredvizhniki Artists 4 Friendship with Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov (1844-1927) 5 Levitsky Polenov Correspondence 6 Friendship with Ilya Repin (1844-1930) 7 Friendship with author Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) 8 Photographer 8.1 Paris studio 8.2 St. Petersburg studio 8.3 Photography's first Artist 9 Legacy 10 References 11 Selected works 12 References

[edit]Education

Portrait of a Village Girl. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1877) Nekrasov Apartment Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

In 1866, Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky began his artistic studies at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg as a free-student.

While there, Rafail studied directly under the teaching of Pavel Petrovich Chistyakov (1832–1919) along with classmates that included V.D. Polenov, and I.E. Repin.

It is Chistyakov's teaching methods that combined the best traditions of the academic school and the experience of direct perception of nature that are widely recognized as having led to the development of realism in Russian art.

Rafail received medals in 1867 - 2 silver and in 1872 - a minor and two major honours.

In 1877 he received a rank of "class artist of third stage".

[edit]Teacher

Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky was a Professor of Drawing and Painting on Porcelain at the School of Imperial Society of Honouring Visual Arts from 1884 until the school was closed by the Soviets in 1918.

His career is documented in a report written by request of the Committee of Imperial Society of Honouring Visual Arts by Nickolay Makarenko, published inSaint Petersburg in 1914.

[edit]The Association of Peredvizhniki Artists

The Bridge in the Woods. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1885-1886) The Stavropol Regional Museum of Fine Arts, Stavropol, Russia

In 1880, Rafail Levitsky joined the free-thinking "Association of Peredvizhniki Artists" who sought to move away from the academic formalism of the official Academy.

Rafail Levitsky exhibited with the Peredvizhniki (Itinerant) Movement from 1880 to 1894.

His artistic career took him throughout Russia. After the opening in 1883 of the Rostov Museum of Church Antiquities his name appears twice in the Museum's Book of Visitors (started in 1886). Rafail visited this cultural centre of old Russian architecture, church and folk art in 1900 and 1904.

A painting of the Interior of the Redeemer Church "na-senyah" found in the Kremlin of Rostov was painted in 1904 by Rafail and is today at the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

In 1885, 1896, and 1907 he travelled to Italy where he painted genre and impressionistic scenes en plein air.

In November 1914, he documented a scene of Russian forces fighting in the Silesian Offensive in World War I.

Today, Rafail Levitsky is still rated among the Great Russian artists by the Art Union of Russia.

[edit]Friendship with Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov (1844-1927)

Throughout his life Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky was good friends with fellow Itinerant artist Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov. Polenov's freshness of color combined with artistic finish of composition greatly influenced Levitsky's own landscape painting style and treatment.

When Rafail was a bachelor, he lived and worked together with Polenov in "Devich'e Pole" (the name of the street "Maiden's Field"), in an attic of the Olsufevsky House. This house is illustrated by Polenov in his painting "Grandmother's garden" (1878).

While living there Levitsky would meet and marry Anna Vasilevna Olsufevsky. He would also meet Leo Tolstoy and become good friends with the world famous author discussing Tolstoy's theories on art and his personal connection to the art and artists of the day. Ultimately, Levitsky in 1896 would paint Tolstoy's portrait.

View of Mazzolada di Lison, Veneto, Italy. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1896) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada

[edit]Levitsky Polenov Correspondence

As Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky lived and worked in Saint Petersburg we are given insight into the art exhibitions he attended and wrote about in letters to Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov.

In a letter sent to Polenov in Moscow, Rafail writes about an academic exhibition which occurred on September, 18th, 1869 about the sculptor Opekushin Alexander Mikhailovich (1838–1923) who sculpted a bust of the artist Mikhail Osipovich Mikeshin (1835–1896). He writes:

"The exhibition has been open since yesterday, but there are not a lot of people attending, and those of the public who are attending do not seem to like the exhibition either. Did I tell you about a bust of Mikeshin made by some unknown sculptor named Opekushin. This sculpture is remarkable in its work and the likeness to the face and body of Mikeshin... would this be a painting, I would have gambled that it was done by Mikeshin himself. This same fellow Opekushin also showed a bust of Komisarov".

At a third Academic Exhibition in St. Petersburg where V.M.Vasnetsova (1848–1926) exhibited the picture "Tea drinking at a tavern" Levitsky who visited the exhibition, wrote on February, 8th, 1874 to Polenov, "Vasnetsova whom you, obviously, know, a miracle from miracles…"

Writing to Polenov about the artist Arkhip Ivanovich Kuinji's (1842–1910) work "View of the Isaakievsky cathedral" having visited the academic exhibition in 1869, Levitsky saw the beginnings of what would be Kuinji's use of special light effects to paint nature and achieved astonishing results. Levitsky writes: "A. Kuinji has painted a landscape of the Neva river with the view of the Isaakievsky cathedral which is perfectly realized …"

[edit]Friendship with Ilya Repin (1844-1930)

R.S. Levitsky (background) and E.L. Prahova (foreground)sketch by Ilya Repin (1879)

Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky was classmate and close friends with fellow Itinerant artist Ilya Repin. Repin sketched Rafail's image and painted his portrait in 1878 showing early Repin's ability to not just paint faces, but rather to paint people fully, revealing his models in their natural state and how they communicated.

When Repin settled in Moscow in 1876, he and Levitsky would travel to the Abramtsevo Colony, the country estate of Savva Mamontov located north of Moscow. Savva was one of the most famous Russian patrons of art of the late 19th century who founded an artist's union in Ambratsevo.

Repin's "On a Bridge in Abramtsevo" (1879) and Levitsky's "The Bridge in the Woods" (1885–1886) are remarkable achievements showing different approaches of these two great artists painting the same subject matter (a bridge) in the same location (Abramtsevo).

In 1920, Ilya Repin donated his portrait of Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky along with a collection of other works by him to the Finnish National Gallery.

Today, Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky's portrait by Ilya Repin is on permanent display at the Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum Art Gallery, Helsinki, Finland.

[edit]Friendship with author Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910)

From February to March, 1896, and from February to March, 1897, Leo Tolstoy visited Rafail Levitsky and his wife Anna Vasilevna Olsufesky, at the Olsufevsky's estate, Nicholskoe, near Moscow. Once he spent two weeks with them and another time he stayed with them for an entire month.

On one such visit, Rafail welcomed Tolstoy hospitably into his workshop and discussed painting Tolstoy's portrait. The session took place, on the second floor of the Nicholskoe's house. It is told that Levitsky, while standing, drew on an easel and chose to make a sketch viewing Tolstoy's right profile. To facilitate the posing, someone read aloud from a Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916) novel. The session lasted for one and a half hours. With the permission of Tolstoy, the final drawing was made into an engraving and sold in shops throughout Russia.

In the month of May 1898, Leo Tolstoy travelled to Grinevka to visit the estate of his son, Count I. L. Tolstoy. While living there, he once again visited his friend, the landlord, Rafail S. Levitsky, where he fell seriously ill with severe dysentery and remained there for ten days. In his Journal translated by Rose Strunsky in 1917 he writes of this time: "I went with Sonya (my daughter-in-law) to the Tsurikov's, Aphremov's, and the Levitsky's. I have a very pleasant impression and fell in love with many; but fell ill and did not do my work and made a lot of fuss both for Levitsky and the household."

[edit]Photographer

Rafail Levitsky's father was the famous Sergei Lvovich Levitsky (1819–1898, Moscow, Russian: Сергей Львович Львов-Левицкий), who is considered the patriarch of Russian photography and one of Europe's most important early photographic pioneers, inventors and innovators.

Czar Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra, and daughter Olga. by Sergei Lvovich Levitsky.(1896) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada

With a career that began in the 1840s, working as a daguerreotypist in Germany and Italy; Levitsky's father knew Daguerre personally, and introduced the term ‘light painting’ to Russia. It was he who first proposed the idea to artificially light subjects in a studio setting using electric lighting along with daylight.

With a working life that spanned fifty years, Sergei Levitsky distinguished himself in the technical sphere of photographic development. It was he who designed a bellows camera which significantly improved the process of focusing, and it was he who introduced interchangeable decorative backgrounds, as well as the retouching of negatives to reduce or eliminate technical deficiencies.

Sergei is perhaps best known for a series of photographs of famous artists, writers and public figures (included among these notable figures were Nikolai Nekrasov,Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Goncharov, Vladimir Sollogub, Fedor Tyutchev, Peter Vyazemsky, Alexander Strugovshchikov, Vasily Botkin, Ivan Panaev, Pavel Annenkov,Dmitry Grigorovich, Alexander Herzen, Sergey Volkonsky, and Leo Tolstoy). It is perhaps this association that led Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov (1821–1878) to purchase a painting by Rafail Levitsky that hangs in the living room of the N.A. Nekrasov Apartment Museum to this day.

Sergei Levitsky was also one of the founders of Russian's first Photographic Societies, a writer of articles for the Russian magazine "Photograph" and was actively involved in organizing national and international photographic exhibitions throughout his lifetime. He wrote memoirs in two volumes entitled, Reminiscences of an Old Photographer (1892) and How I Became a Photographer (1896). He is buried in St. Petersburg's Smolenskoye Cemetery.

[edit]Paris studio

Between 1859 and 1864 Sergei Levitsky operated a photographic studio at 22, rue de Choiseul in Paris formerly the address for American daguerreotypist Warren Thompson [aka Warren-Thompson] and joined the Société Française de Photographie (SPF).

Levitsky and Warren-Thompson were associated 1847-49 both making large format daguerreotypes. Thompson opened a studio at 22 rue Choiseul in 1853.

In 1864 Levitsky in turn sold out to Augustin Aimé Joseph Le Jeune whose cards carried the Levitsky name and the information that he was the new owner/successor i.e. 'Lejeune succr' until at least 1867 and Lejeune reused negatives made by Levitsky as well as making his own images.

Lejeune also operated a studio at 106 Rue de Rivoli associated there with a relative Denis Victor Adolphe Le Jeune from 1867.

Confusion as to the operation of Levitsky's studio in Paris has arisen from the reference to 'Levitsky', 'M. Levitsky' and 'Maison Levitsky' on Lejeune's cartes de visites and cabinet cards with his ownership and authorship printed usually on the lower right hand side, as 'Le Jeune Succ^r'.

By 1872 Le Jeune was operating at 350 Rue St Honore and in turn after the Le Jeunes sold the Rue de Rivoli studio to Auguste La Planquais in 1873 and the following year the Rue St Honore studio to Léon Abraham Marius Joliot.

Le Jeune was listed as a member of the SPF until 1885 as was Levitsky but the latter is most likely a confusion with the exit date of Lejeune.

In 1864 Levitsky wrote about his Paris career in The Russian Magazine "Photograph" (1864, № 3-4) in which he described his great success and artistic triumph which "brought to his Paris studio daily orders of some 1500 requests; many of which could not be filled".

Showing in practice that the skillful combination of both natural and artificial light allowed one to create interesting effects, Levitsky's photographs became recognized throughout Europe for their mastery.

Following his father's lead, Rafail Levitsky worked along side his father in Paris placing his Russian monogram Russian: Р Л; on the carte de visite (CDV) photo cards when his hand was involved in the process of taking the photograph.

In 1864 when his father closed the Levitsky studio in Paris, Rafail returned to Russia with his father.

Czarina Alexandra with Olga and Maria. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky .(1899) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada

[edit]St. Petersburg studio

The Levitsky St. Petersburg studio of the 1890s was a father son enterprise. Photo cards of this time have the distinctive Levitsky name 'and Son' Russian:Левицкий и сын both written as a signature and printed on their backs.

Upon his father's death, Rafail continued the operation and tradition of the Levitsky portrait studio taking the now famous photos of Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra and their children Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia,Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, and Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia. So popular were the photos of the Romanovs that they were reproduced individually for public consumption in an 'Edition A Bon Marche' by Rafail.

While running the St. Petersburg studio Rafail began the tradition of taking photos of everyday Russian actors and everyday Russian people while continuing the Studio's resume of taking photos that included Russia's who's who including such luminaries as Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, Russian General Aleksei Nikolaievitch Kouropatkine and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Rafail took part in numerous international and Russian photographic exhibitions, sometimes serving on the jury. His works received multiple awards in international exhibitions.

The Levitsky Studio was located in Moika River Embankment, 30 (1860s), Nevsky Prospect, 28 (1890s), and Kazanskaya Street, 3 (1898, the house is not preserved).

The Levitsky St. Petersburg Studio remained in operation until it was closed by the Soviets in 1918.

[edit]Photography's first Artist

Russian Banknote 25 RUBLES showing engraving of Alexander III after portrait by Sergei Lvovich Levitsky and Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1909)

Rafail Levitsky is considered to be the first artist in history to be also a fine art photographer. During his lifetime many of the Levitsky famous photographic portraits became partial or complete replacements of the model by artists, lithographers, illustrators and even engravers as in the case of Levitsky's portrait of Alexander III which was used on the Russian ruble bank note.

Alexander III. by Sergei Lvovich Levitsky and Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1885) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada

However, the Levitsky Studio's lasting importance is found in their ability to understand and exploit the relationship between art and photography; understanding that it could be possible that a photographer using a mechanical device that creates the image, could impose their personal spirit into the finished photograph.

For the Studio believed that it was not simply a process of taking the most famous photographs of the who's who of European and North American society but an artistic endeavour and pursuit to capture the essence of the sitter and relay this through the photographic image captured.

Rafail's ability to understand, apply and build upon the scientific photographic advancements developed by his father would begin to establish Rafail's photography as a worthy form of artistic expression; no less effective than a painting or a sculpture.

His achievements preceded famous artists as photographers such as Edgar Degas who began taking photographs in 1895 and Man Ray who would not produce his first significant photographs until 1918.

Rafail's photos are the first to show images of sitters in naturalistic poses, soft lighting, within naturalistic backgrounds, and expressing real sentiments like joy and laughter or tenderness as in the photo of Czarina Alexandra with Olga and Maria (1899).

Compare similar photos of the day where sitters stood as straight as soldiers and looked out at the viewer like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car and one will instantly see why the Levitsky studio was miles ahead of its competitors and why being an artist was so important to the early development of photography.

[edit]Legacy

The magnitude of Rafail Levitsky's catalogue raisonné remains unknown. His influence on artists, his history, and his life's artistic achievements were erased during the Soviet era; an era where aristocratic origins and ties to the Romanov family were cause for violent repression. The State Russian Museum does not own pictures, drawings or archival documents in its collection of this once great Russian artist.

In the most complete collection ever produced reviewing the tradition of Russian and European painting entitled the Encyclopedia of World Art published by White City; the author Alexander Shestimirov includes Rafail Levitsky's artistic work in all three volumes – Russian Seascape Painting – p. 443; Russian Landscape Painting – p. 888; and Russian Portrait Painting – p. 1416.

Individual works are found hanging in the Nekrasov Apartment Museum, 36 Liteiny Avenue, St. Petersburg; The Stavropol Regional Museum of Fine Arts; The Chuvash State Art Museum and The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Today, the largest collection of Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky works are found in The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection (DRWC), Toronto, Canada which is dedicated to preserving the memory, legacy and works of Rafail Sergeevitch Levitsky and Sergei Lvovich Levitsky.

Morning Impression along a Canal in Venice, Veneto, Italy. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1896) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada

[edit]References

1. Burova G. K, Gaponov O. I, Rumjantseva V. F. Association of Mobile Art Exhibitions: in 2 т. М, Art, 1952–1959

2. Tchernyshev E.A., V.D.Polenov's Memorial Estate. the Catalogue. Л, 1964

3. Mosenzov G. N., Catalogue: Painting. Sculpture. Drawing. – Omsk, 1941

4. Spiridonov A.N., Catalogue Omsk гос. Museum of Fine Arts: Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture. – Omsk, 1955

5. Omsk Region. Museum of Fine Arts: Рус. дорев. Art: Painting, Drawing, teatr.-dekorats. Art, a sculpture. Кат. – Л, 1986

6. Guidebook to Dashkovsky meeting of images of Russian figures. – m. 1882. (Mosk. публ. And Rumjantsev. Museums)

7. Makarenko Nickolay, Report written by request of the Committee of Imperial Society of Honouring Visual Arts, published Saint Petersburg, 1914.

8. Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich, Volume 84, Letters written to S.A. Tolstoy 1887-1910, complete works; letter written January 1895.

9. Kim E.V., I.A. Shljakov and an Art Life in Rostov (I. 1880-1890th) Books of Visitors of the Rostov Museum of Church Antiquities.

10. Strunsky Rose, translated Journal of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy translation -1917.

[edit]Selected works

• 

  Evening Impression in Rapallo, Genova, Liguria, Italy. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1885) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada
 
• 

  Grandfather Vlas. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky. (1895) The Chuvash State Art Museum, Chuvashia Republic
 
• 

  Villa and Gatehouse Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1907) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada
 
• 

  Gatehouse Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1907) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada
 
• 

  Afternoon Impression Along a Russian Stream. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1908) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada
 
• 

  Russian House Afternoon. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1908) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada
 
• 

  Hillside Walk Russia. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1908) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada
 
• 

  Russian Silesian Offensive. by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1914) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada
 
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  Maria Feodorovna Princess Dagmar of Denmark. by Sergei Lvovich Levitsky and Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1881) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada
 
• 

  Nicholas II. by Sergei Lvovich Levitsky and Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky.(1894) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada
 
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  Czar Nicholas II and family by Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky. (August 16 1901, Peterhof ) The Di Rocco Wieler Private Collection, Toronto, Canada

[edit]References

1. ^ His name is a variant of "Levy". See JewFAQ.

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