Mother of violinist Yehudi Menuhin dies here at 104
Marutha Menuhin's life spanned continents and more than a century. Born in Russia to a kosher butcher, she lived in Palestine, New York and Petaluma before settling in San Francisco. Last Friday, the mother of acclaimed violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin died in Los Gatos at 104 after a short illness. Lionel Rolfe, son of Yehudi's younger sister Yaltah, recalls his grandmother as "a very, very strong-willed woman. My mother always said that if Marutha had stayed in Israel, Golda Meir wouldn't have had a chance." Marutha Menuhin, who attended the Herzliya Gymnasium in Tel Aviv, taught piano while living in Palestine. She passed her love of music on not only to Yehudi but to daughters Yaltah and Hephzibah, accomplished pianists who appeared with their brother in chamber music recitals and concert tours. But it was Yehudi Menuhin who rose to international stardom. A child prodigy who appeared with the San Francisco Symphony when he was 8, he is regarded as one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. Among the composers who wrote especially for Yehudi Menuhin were Ernest Bloch, Béla Bartók and Sir William Walton. By all accounts, including their own, mother and son shared a deep bond. "Theirs was an incredibly close relationship," says Rolfe, who wrote a book about his family titled "The Menuhins: A Family Odyssey." "He looked upon his mother as something akin to a deity and she did the same thing in return. She thought she had produced not just a great violinist, but a great humanitarian." On moving to San Francisco in 1917, Menuhin and her husband, Moshe, a Hebrew teacher, educated their children at home in the Western Addition, then a Jewish neighborhood. Marutha taught her children a number of languages, including Russian, French and German; Moshe taught them Hebrew, math and history. The two of them were sort of avant-garde in educational things," Rolfe says. "They gave their children an education that allowed them to look at the larger world." Menuhin, who lived in Los Gatos since 1935, is survived by son Yehudi and daughter Yaltah, both of London. Her second daughter, Hephzibah, died in 1980. Her husband, Moshe, who had served as head of the forerunner to the S.F. Bureau of Jewish Education, died in 1982. Menuhin is survived by grandchildren Lionel and Robert Rolfe, Kron and Marsten Nicholas, Clara Hauser and Zamira, Jeremy and Krov Menuhin. Contributions in Menuhin's name can be made to St. Anthony's Dining Room, 121 Golden Gate Ave., S.F., CA 94102. Transcribed by Mary Cummins.
Contributor: Mary Cummins (48205043) • [email protected])
Marutha Menuhin's life spanned continents and more than a century. Born in Russia to a kosher butcher, she lived in Palestine, New York and Petaluma before settling in San Francisco. Last Friday, the mother of acclaimed violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin died in Los Gatos at 104 after a short illness. Lionel Rolfe, son of Yehudi's younger sister Yaltah, recalls his grandmother as "a very, very strong-willed woman. My mother always said that if Marutha had stayed in Israel, Golda Meir wouldn't have had a chance." Marutha Menuhin, who attended the Herzliya Gymnasium in Tel Aviv, taught piano while living in Palestine. She passed her love of music on not only to Yehudi but to daughters Yaltah and Hephzibah, accomplished pianists who appeared with their brother in chamber music recitals and concert tours. But it was Yehudi Menuhin who rose to international stardom. A child prodigy who appeared with the San Francisco Symphony when he was 8, he is regarded as one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. Among the composers who wrote especially for Yehudi Menuhin were Ernest Bloch, Béla Bartók and Sir William Walton. By all accounts, including their own, mother and son shared a deep bond. "Theirs was an incredibly close relationship," says Rolfe, who wrote a book about his family titled "The Menuhins: A Family Odyssey." "He looked upon his mother as something akin to a deity and she did the same thing in return. She thought she had produced not just a great violinist, but a great humanitarian." On moving to San Francisco in 1917, Menuhin and her husband, Moshe, a Hebrew teacher, educated their children at home in the Western Addition, then a Jewish neighborhood. Marutha taught her children a number of languages, including Russian, French and German; Moshe taught them Hebrew, math and history. The two of them were sort of avant-garde in educational things," Rolfe says. "They gave their children an education that allowed them to look at the larger world." Menuhin, who lived in Los Gatos since 1935, is survived by son Yehudi and daughter Yaltah, both of London. Her second daughter, Hephzibah, died in 1980. Her husband, Moshe, who had served as head of the forerunner to the S.F. Bureau of Jewish Education, died in 1982. Menuhin is survived by grandchildren Lionel and Robert Rolfe, Kron and Marsten Nicholas, Clara Hauser and Zamira, Jeremy and Krov Menuhin. Contributions in Menuhin's name can be made to St. Anthony's Dining Room, 121 Golden Gate Ave., S.F., CA 94102. Transcribed by Mary Cummins.
Contributor: Mary Cummins (48205043) • [email protected])
Mother of violinist Yehudi Menuhin dies here at 104
Marutha Menuhin's life spanned continents and more than a century. Born in Russia to a kosher butcher, she lived in Palestine, New York and Petaluma before settling in San Francisco. Last Friday, the mother of acclaimed violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin died in Los Gatos at 104 after a short illness. Lionel Rolfe, son of Yehudi's younger sister Yaltah, recalls his grandmother as "a very, very strong-willed woman. My mother always said that if Marutha had stayed in Israel, Golda Meir wouldn't have had a chance." Marutha Menuhin, who attended the Herzliya Gymnasium in Tel Aviv, taught piano while living in Palestine. She passed her love of music on not only to Yehudi but to daughters Yaltah and Hephzibah, accomplished pianists who appeared with their brother in chamber music recitals and concert tours. But it was Yehudi Menuhin who rose to international stardom. A child prodigy who appeared with the San Francisco Symphony when he was 8, he is regarded as one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. Among the composers who wrote especially for Yehudi Menuhin were Ernest Bloch, Béla Bartók and Sir William Walton. By all accounts, including their own, mother and son shared a deep bond. "Theirs was an incredibly close relationship," says Rolfe, who wrote a book about his family titled "The Menuhins: A Family Odyssey." "He looked upon his mother as something akin to a deity and she did the same thing in return. She thought she had produced not just a great violinist, but a great humanitarian." On moving to San Francisco in 1917, Menuhin and her husband, Moshe, a Hebrew teacher, educated their children at home in the Western Addition, then a Jewish neighborhood. Marutha taught her children a number of languages, including Russian, French and German; Moshe taught them Hebrew, math and history. The two of them were sort of avant-garde in educational things," Rolfe says. "They gave their children an education that allowed them to look at the larger world." Menuhin, who lived in Los Gatos since 1935, is survived by son Yehudi and daughter Yaltah, both of London. Her second daughter, Hephzibah, died in 1980. Her husband, Moshe, who had served as head of the forerunner to the S.F. Bureau of Jewish Education, died in 1982. Menuhin is survived by grandchildren Lionel and Robert Rolfe, Kron and Marsten Nicholas, Clara Hauser and Zamira, Jeremy and Krov Menuhin. Contributions in Menuhin's name can be made to St. Anthony's Dining Room, 121 Golden Gate Ave., S.F., CA 94102. Transcribed by Mary Cummins.
Contributor: Mary Cummins (48205043) • [email protected])
Marutha Menuhin's life spanned continents and more than a century. Born in Russia to a kosher butcher, she lived in Palestine, New York and Petaluma before settling in San Francisco. Last Friday, the mother of acclaimed violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin died in Los Gatos at 104 after a short illness. Lionel Rolfe, son of Yehudi's younger sister Yaltah, recalls his grandmother as "a very, very strong-willed woman. My mother always said that if Marutha had stayed in Israel, Golda Meir wouldn't have had a chance." Marutha Menuhin, who attended the Herzliya Gymnasium in Tel Aviv, taught piano while living in Palestine. She passed her love of music on not only to Yehudi but to daughters Yaltah and Hephzibah, accomplished pianists who appeared with their brother in chamber music recitals and concert tours. But it was Yehudi Menuhin who rose to international stardom. A child prodigy who appeared with the San Francisco Symphony when he was 8, he is regarded as one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. Among the composers who wrote especially for Yehudi Menuhin were Ernest Bloch, Béla Bartók and Sir William Walton. By all accounts, including their own, mother and son shared a deep bond. "Theirs was an incredibly close relationship," says Rolfe, who wrote a book about his family titled "The Menuhins: A Family Odyssey." "He looked upon his mother as something akin to a deity and she did the same thing in return. She thought she had produced not just a great violinist, but a great humanitarian." On moving to San Francisco in 1917, Menuhin and her husband, Moshe, a Hebrew teacher, educated their children at home in the Western Addition, then a Jewish neighborhood. Marutha taught her children a number of languages, including Russian, French and German; Moshe taught them Hebrew, math and history. The two of them were sort of avant-garde in educational things," Rolfe says. "They gave their children an education that allowed them to look at the larger world." Menuhin, who lived in Los Gatos since 1935, is survived by son Yehudi and daughter Yaltah, both of London. Her second daughter, Hephzibah, died in 1980. Her husband, Moshe, who had served as head of the forerunner to the S.F. Bureau of Jewish Education, died in 1982. Menuhin is survived by grandchildren Lionel and Robert Rolfe, Kron and Marsten Nicholas, Clara Hauser and Zamira, Jeremy and Krov Menuhin. Contributions in Menuhin's name can be made to St. Anthony's Dining Room, 121 Golden Gate Ave., S.F., CA 94102. Transcribed by Mary Cummins.
Contributor: Mary Cummins (48205043) • [email protected])
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