Family of Rudolf and Ernestine Porges (Prague)  
Family tree

This page documents the family of Rudolf Porges (b. ca. 1874-1875, † Prague 20 July 1917, age 42), husband of Malvine Porges née Lederer, son of Ernestine Porges, and father of three sons (Paul, Hans, and the predeceased Franz Porges † 1914 age 14). The family is documented through two paired faire-parts — the death of teenage Franz in 1914 and the death of his father Rudolf 3½ years later in 1917 — and provides one of the most fully-elaborated sibling networks in the corpus, dispersing across Bohemia, Saxony and Vienna.

Generation A — Ernestine Porges and her 6 children

? Porges (predeceased by 1917, name not stated) ⛔ Ernestine Porges (alive 1917)

Rudolf Porges (b. ca. 1874-1875, † Prague 20 July 1917)

   see Generation B below

Max Porges — Žižkov (Prague), ⛔ Kamilla Porges

Karl Porges — Pilsen, ⛔ Anna Porges

Rosa Porges-Lustig — Werdau (Saxony, Germany), ⛔ Adolf Lustig

Ida Porges-Popper — Rakovník (Rakonitz), ⛔ Moritz Popper

Otto Porges — Prague

Generation B — Rudolf Porges and Malvine Lederer

Rudolf Porges (b. ca. 1874-1875, † Prague 20 July 1917, age 42, after long severe illness)

   married Malvine Porges née Lederer

Franz Porges (b. ca. 1899-1900, † Prague 28 February 1914, age 14)

   k.k. Deutsches Staatsgymnasium am Graben pupil ; predeceased his father by 3½ years

Paul Porges (alive 1914 + 1917)

Hans Porges (alive 1914 + 1917)

In-law network

The Lederer in-laws (Malvine's family) form a substantial Vienna-Prague Jewish merchant clan, named in the 1917 Rudolf announcement as :

• Oskar & Irma Lederer (Vienna)
• Robert & Bettina Lederer (Vienna)

The Lederer family is the third documented Lederer-Porges marriage alliance in the corpus, alongside Hugo Lederer (son-in-law of Josef Porges of Vinohrady † 1903) and Oswald Lederer (son-in-law in the David Porges sub-clan).

Primary-source faire-parts

Faire-part

Prager Tagblatt, 28 February 1914

Faire-part of Franz Porges (Prague, † 28 February 1914, age 14)

Franz Porges, a 14-year-old pupil at the k.k. Deutsches Staatsgymnasium am Graben (German State Gymnasium on the Graben, Prague's premier German-language high school), died after a brief illness on 28 February 1914. The faire-part is signed by his parents Rudolf and Malvine, his paternal grandmother Ernestine, and his two surviving brothers Paul and Hans.

The death from acute illness in late February 1914 most likely points to pneumonia or influenza — common acute killers of adolescents in the pre-antibiotic era.
Faire-part

Prager Tagblatt, 20 July 1917

Faire-part of Rudolf Porges (Prague, † 20 July 1917, age 42)

Rudolf Porges died on Friday 20 July 1917 at 1 p.m., in his 43rd year, after a long severe illness. The full mourners' list reads as a complete sibling and in-law roster :

  • Wife : Malvine Porges née Lederer
  • Mother : Ernestine Porges
  • Sons : Paul and Hans Porges (Franz, † 1914, is not named)
  • Siblings : Max Porges (Žižkov), Karl Porges (Pilsen), Rosa Lustig née Porges (Werdau, Saxony), Ida Popper née Porges (Rakonitz), Otto Porges (Prague)
  • Brothers- and sisters-in-law : Oskar & Irma Lederer (Vienna), Robert & Bettina Lederer (Vienna), Kamilla Porges (Žižkov, Max's wife), Anna Porges (Pilsen, Karl's wife), Adolf Lustig (Werdau Saxony, Rosa's husband), Moritz Popper (Rakonitz, Ida's husband)

Burial : Strašnice Israelite Cemetery, Monday 23 July 1917, 3 p.m.

The arc of this family between February 1914 and July 1917 is one of cumulative tragedy : within 3½ years the household lost both their 14-year-old son Franz and his 42-year-old father Rudolf, leaving Malvine as a young widow with two surviving sons (Paul, Hans).

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