Dr. Simon Hevesi, 76, Chief Rabbi of Pest, and a noted scholar and author, has died in that city, his son, Eugene, who resides in New York, was informed today through neutral diplomatic channels. The cause of Rabbi Havesi’s death is not known.
Dr. Hevesi, who would have celebrated his fiftieth year in the ministry in 1944, had been Rabbi of the Pest Jewish community since 1905. During his incumbency he was responsible for the development of Jewish culture and education throughout Hungary and was active in welfare and religious organizations. At the time of his death he was president of the Rabbinical Association of Hungary. During the chaotic post-war years in Hungary and in the period after 1929 when violent anti-Semitic activity was resumed, Dr. Hevesi was instrumental in saving the Jewish population from much humiliation and persecution.
In 1939, before the outbreak of the war, Dr. Hevesi visited the United States where he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Hebrew Letters from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He wrote numerous studies on religious and philosophical subjects in Hebrew, Hungarian and German.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
