Jean Joseph Levy, one of the sons of Moroccan Jewish activist Simon Levy, founder and former director of the Moroccan Jewish Museum, died Friday, January 24.
Despite moving to Berlin where he worked as a doctor, he never denied his Moroccan roots. The love of his homeland that his father had instilled in him never left his heart; he remained faithful to Moroccan Jewish memory and heritage. Also, he never skimped on any effort to revive and enhance this heritage.
Jean Joseph Levy had important relations within the German government, just as he maintained good relations with the Jewish diaspora scattered throughout the world. This diaspora had great affection and respect for his father and his entire family. For this reason, the German government did not hesitate to contribute to the project of restoring the synagogue “Slat El fassiyyine” in the Mellah district of Fez, in order to reopen it to the Jewish community residing in the spiritual capital, a project which the father had always dreamed of and which the son managed to realize.
And by way of encouragement for scientific research, particularly concerning Moroccan Jewish heritage, the late Jean Levy donated his father’s library to the Archive Foundation, supervised by Jamaa Beida. He also initiated the creation of the Association of Friends of the Moroccan Jewish Museum, for which he chose to continue the work of his father, Simon Levy, particularly in the preservation of Moroccan Jewish heritage, by maintaining the clothing, accessories and objects that Moroccan Jews used in their daily lives, as well as restoring old houses, temples, etc.
Jean Joseph Levy was born in Casablanca in 1962. He continued his primary and secondary education there before going to Leipzig to learn German and later to study medicine at the Karl Marx University. After graduation, he worked as a trainee in several German hospitals in Thuringia and Berlin, as well as being active in several German scientific research centers before opening his private clinic as a dermatologist in Berlin. He is married with two children.
Ich habe erst jetzt von seinem Tod erfahren. Ich war ein Kommilitone von ihm in Leipzig. Wir haben zusammen am Institut für Pathobiochemie unter Dr. Manfred Mühle diplomiert. Er war ein großartiger hochintelligenter Mensch. Ich würde gerne mit seinen Hinterbliebenen Kontakt aufnehmen.