Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita

Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita was born on the 6th of June in 1868 in Amsterdam. He grew up in a Jewish family. Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita is known as a Dutch graphic artist active in the years before the Second World War. His pupils included graphic artist M. C. Escher (1898–1972). At the age of fourteen, the young de Mesquita applied to the Rijksakademie in pursuit of his artistic interests, only to be rejected. Deeply disappointed, he apprenticed himself to an acting city architect, for whom he worked for two years before entering a technical school with the intention of becoming an architect himself. He soon turned, however, to the pedagogy and, in 1889, received a teacher's certificate, which would later enable him to support his family. The years following, de Mesquita principally devoted himself to art, experimenting with various techniques and mediums. Though known primarily for his wood engravings, he also produced etchings, lithographs, watercolors and drawings; his applied art consisted mostly of material designs. There are birds, exotic animals, plants and flowers, and fantastical representations, both humorous and grim. Among de Mesquita's most beautiful works are his portraits, particularly his self-portraits. With Nazi Germany's invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, de Mesquita, already in poor health, was forced to lead a secluded life, limiting his work largely to sketches. In the winter of 1944 the family of Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita was forced out of their home and deported to Auschwitz. Samuel and his wife Elisabeth were sent to the gas chambers on the day of arrival, their son Jaap died in the concentration camp at Therensienstadt on the 20th of March. Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita died on the 11th of February in 1944 inside the Auschwitz camp.