Two photographs of the Meir Rothchild Hospital in Jerusalem and one photograph depicting the tombstone over the hospital director, Dr. Yitzchak Schwartz's grave. [Jerusalem, ca. late 19th century].
1. Photograph of the hospital façade, by Garabed Krikorian (mounted to an original photographer's mount, captioned "G. Krikorian / Photographe Jerusalem"). Captioned by hand, in French, on the mount.
Garabed Krikorian (1847-1918), born in Izmir, was a Jerusalemite photographer of Armenian origin. He opened his commercial photography studio in Jerusalem in the 1880s.
Photographs 2-3 may have also been taken by Krikorian.
Photograph: 20X25 cm. Mount: 30X35.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor creases. Tape to verso.
2. Photograph of the hospital staff – doctors and nurses – standing at the entrance gate to the hospital.
Photograph: 17X12 cm. Mount: 31X24 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes.
3. Photograph of the tombstone over the hospital director, Dr. Yitzchak Schwartz's grave (background over-exposed, possibly in preparation for a photomontage).
Photograph: 30X24 cm. Mount: 31.5X25.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Long cracks to photograph and mount and several small tears. Blemishes to verso of mount.
The Meir Rothchild Hospital was established in 1854 in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem as the first Jewish hospital in the city. It was initially run by Dr. Bernhard Newman and consisted of three rooms with 18 beds, a pharmacy, kitchen and library. In 1875, Dr. Yitzchak Schwartz, who immigrated to Palestine about a year earlier, was appointed as the new director of the hospital. With the increase in the city's population and at the initiative of Dr. Schwartz, it was decided to move the hospital outside the walls of the Old City. The new building, on HaNevi'im St., was planned by the Jerusalemite architect Alexei Franghia and was dedicated in 1888 in the presence of local rabbis and dignitaries.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.