Hugo Levendel fonds

Hugo Levendel fonds 

Hugo Levendel (November 8, 1904 in Satu-Mare, Hungary - August 28, 2000 in Ottawa) immigrated to Ottawa in 1928 shortly after his brother Alex Levendel. He achieved basic English and the skill of retouching photographs before leaving Satu-Mare. Soon after arriving in Ottawa secured a position with Castonguay Photography Studios. He had Barney Weiss to thank for helping him find that position; a local politician and man who made it a mission to assist new Jewish immigrants in Ottawa with finding work and homes. Later, he worked with Morris Stein of Parisienne Studios before working for Yousuf Karsh performing dark room and printing work. In December, 1937 he opened his own studio at 74 Sparks Street. At the beginning of World War II he gave up photography and entered the Federal Government, performing translation work with his proficiency in Hebrew, Yiddish, Rumanian, Magyar and German. Levendel is probably best known for his shots of Jewish storefronts in the Byward Market from the 1930's and 40's. He did these while working with Stein at the Parisienne Studios. As the story goes, Stein and Levendel would tell the store owners they were taking photographs for trade magazines. They would charge nothing for these images to be taken. Once developed, the negatives would be shown to the shop owners and more often than not, the owners would buy prints. Hugo Levendel also worked as a volunteer for many Jewish causes. Between 1930 and 1934 he was the president of the Young Jewish People’s Association of Ottawa. For three years he was youth chairman of the United Palestine Appeal, 1933-1935. His interest in adult education led him to also support the Jewish Folke Shule in the 1930's. Culturally he promoted Yiddish theatrical performances. He acted as co-chairman of the Jewish Community Council of Ottawa’s Holocaust Committee in the 1970's. Between 1980 and 1986, he was President of the Ottawa Jewish Historical Society and worked closely with then Archivist Shirley Berman. An active Zionist all his life, he was heavily involved in all Zionist activities in the Ottawa Jewish community, including attendance as a delegate to numerous Canadian National Zionist Conventions. In 1936 he married Ruth Davis, one of the Ukranian orphans brought to Canada in 1921 by Lillian Freiman. Ruth was a founder of the Na’amat Pioneer Women in Ottawa. She and Hugo had two children, Lewis David and Margaret Ann. 

Hugo Levendel fonds