Dear Tom,
Thanks for your responses regarding the probable/possible orthographic
change >from P>F, and V>F. I think you're right about not identifying
as Hungarian if our FOLGARs had been in France for several
generations. I read, however, that there were expulsions >from Hungary
(Greater Hungary) off and on >from 1600s on. For sure our Folgars were
in Guatemala by cir 1850. I agree that speculation is not enough for
full-bore research in one area. I will have to focus on the records
that the LDS have microfilmed and hope that Leandro's parents are
referenced (and that it isn't precisely the years we need that burned
up/got ink spilled on :) ). Another *speculation* I have relates to
the fact that FOLGAR has been a Spanish surname for many centuries. It
is possible that our searches may in the end take us back to Spain and
Sephardic ancestors who were expelled and went to
Turkey>Austro-Hungarian Empire>France or Guatemala. Perhaps Folgar was
always the spelling, originally.
Best regards,
Lorraine Fletez
Phoenix, Arizona
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i can only add a little speculation to your researches.
POLGAR is a very nice hungarian-sounding name (it means citizen), and it's quite plausible that a hungarian jew would have taken on such a surname following the emancipation in 1849. you can view a book of name changes online at <http://kt.lib.pte.hu/cgi-bin/kt.cgi?konyvtar/kt04112203/0_0_2_pg_181.html>, which lists a whole page of POLGARs, many of whom were previously POLLAKs. sorted by new surname, it lists previous surname, occupation, and place of residence (or birth?). not all name changers were jewish, but it's also obvious that many of them were.
the subsequent change >from POLGAR to FOLGAR (if it really was POLGAR) might have been caused by the fact that "p" and "f" are represented by the same letter in hebrew and yiddish. at that time, most jews in europe had limited access to secular education and would have used yiddish as their primary language. but this is only speculation.
i would also guess that the expulsion of jews >from hungary occurred so long ago that jews in france would not have identified themselves as "hungarian" after 2 or 3 generations. it's much more likely that they were talking about the jews who moved to france in the mid- to late- nineteenth century, after emancipation, when jews were allowed to enter the arts and the professions, and did so with great enthusiasm.
....... tom klein, toronto
allrelated@... wrote:
I am researching our FOLGAR family in Central America, first Guatemala
mid-1800s, then Honduras, late 1800s. Our earliest known ancestor in
this family line was Leandro FOLGAR who lived in Guatemala, m. Juana
PORTILLO.
We had been told by my husband's mother that the FOLGAR family was
from France. We haven't been able to ascertain whether he was the
emigrant ancestor, or whether he was born in Guatemala. Our cousin's
wife wrote recently that when she met her new husband's aunts in
Honduras in the 1960s, they told her that their mother was Jewish of
Hungarian descent. <snip>
