LL-L "Names" 2009.07.12 (05) [EN]

[Lowlands-L List]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 12 July 2009 - Volume 06
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From: Hellinckx Luc <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Names"

Beste Ron,

You wrote:

>        • Billy Hahn (basketball coach)
>        • Dave Hahn (mountaineer and journalist)
>        • David Hahn (cartoonist)
>        • Erwin Hahn (physicist)
>        • Hilary Hahn (violinist)
>        • James K. Hahn (mayor of Los Angeles 2001-2005, Janice's brother)
>        • Janice Hahn (Los Angeles council member, James K.'s sister)
>        • Jessica Hahn (celebrity, nude model, and church secretary, of
> Clinton infamy)
>        • Kenneth (Kenny) Hahn (member of the Los Angeles County Board of
> Supervisors, not related to James K. and Janice)
>        • Kimberly Hahn (Catholic author and apologist, married to Scott)
>        • Scott Hahn (convert Catholic author and apologist, married to
> Kimberly)
> Non-Americans with which many Americans are familiar:
>        • Carl Wilhelm Hahn (German zoologist)
>        • Hans Hahn (Austrian mathematician)
>        • Hans "Assi" Hahn (German WW II master pilot)
>        • Otto Hahn (chemist, Nobel Prize winner)
>        • Philipp Matth√§us Hahn (German priest and inventor)
>        • Reynaldo Hahn (Venezuelan composer of Jewish-German and Basque
> descent, naturalized French citizen, lover of Marcel Proust [who once said,
> "Everything I have ever done has always been thanks to Reynaldo."])
>

You forgot the most important one ;=).

Well...for me anyway:

Helena Petrovna Hahn, Елена Петровна Ган,

better known as Madame Blavatsky, founder of Theosophy and the Theosophical
Society.

Led one of the most fascinating lives that a woman has lived in the 19th
century. Born in Dnepropetrovsk from a Russian mother, but her father was
Peter von Hahn, a nobleman from Basedow...yes, yes in Mecklenburg Hanne ;=)

Even better, her first cousin on mother's side, was Prime Minister during
the reign of tsar Nicholas II...and went by the name of...hold on...Sergei
Witte. Yes folks, Witte. Needless to say that immediately I got suspicious
concerning his ancestry. And yes, this very Mr. Witte, who was a count by
the way and also main author of the October Manifesto, sort of a draft for
Russia's first constitution, was of Dutch descent. Probably Flemish or
Brabantish in my opinion, given the final -e in his name, and the
preponderance of "De Witte" and "Dewitte" surnames in Flanders and Antwerp
(compared to the Netherlands). His father settled in the Baltic Provinces at
a time when most settlers there were German. It's said though that Sergei's
family had a marked bias against Germans and Baltic Germans in particular,
and they never wanted to be identified with them.
One should not forget that in Antwerp and Flanders, in a very early stage,
Lutheran followers can already be found. Through the ages, they faced
tremendous hardship and as a result they always kept a low profile, but even
today some of those 16th century Lutheran communities do still exist.

Back to Witte, the guy was a mathematician and apparently very shrewd. Back
in his day, he had his finger in every pie, some go as far as saying that he
had even become master of a state within the state and therefore some
thought he was part of a Jewish-Masonic conspiracy...which was untrue:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Witte

Finally back to this grand lady, Madame Blavatsky. After travelling half of
the world, she started writing her magnum opus, "The Secret Doctrine". A
major part of it was written in Ostend (yes, yes Roland). More about
Blavatsky here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blavatsky

Doesn't happen every day that I can mention Roland, Ron and Hanne in almost
one breath *s*.

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx, Halle

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From: R. F. Hahn
<sassisch at yahoo.com<http://uk.mc264.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sassisch@yahoo.com>
>
Subject: Names

A fine piece of lowlandship there, Luc!

I knew of Madame Blavatsky but had no idea about her being another Hahn. Her
German name was Helena von Hahn. A fascinating character indeed!

By the way, Witte and Witt (such as the figure skater Katarina Witt) are
common names throughout Northern Germany.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

•

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