Fania Lewando

Fanni Levando from Vegetarish-Dietisher Kokhbukh

Fania Lewando (Yiddish: פֿאַנני לעװאַנדאָ, née Fiszelewicz, 1888–1941) was a Polish-Jewish vegetarian chef, restaurateur, nutritionist, and cookbook author from Vilnius.^[1][2] She operated a vegetarian restaurant called Dieto-Jarska Jadłodajnia and in 1938 was author of the first known Yiddish language vegetarian cookbook in Europe.^[3][4][5][6]

Biography

She was born in 1888 or 1889 in Włocławek, Warsaw Governorate, Russian Empire (today located in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland).^[3] Her parents were Haim Efraim Fiszelewicz, a Fishmonger, and Esther-Malakalah (née Stulzaft).^[3] Most of her family emigrated to England or the United States at around the turn of the twentieth century.^[3] She married an egg merchant named Lazar Lewando.^[3] During the Russian Civil War they relocated to Vilnius, and attempted to emigrate to the United States, but were refused a visa.^[3]

Lewando came to be well known in Vilnius for her vegetarian restaurant Dieto-Jarska Jadłodajnia which was located on Niemiecka street in the Jewish Quarter; it had a number of bohemian and celebrity guests including the artist Marc Chagall and the songwriter Itzik Manger.^[1][7][8][3] She also operated a cooking school which was located a few blocks away.^[1] She published her Yiddish-language vegetarian cookbook in 1938.^[3][9] It contained a number of Jewish cooking recipes adapted for a vegetarian diet, and was exported to England and the United States. She attempted to market the recipes to the H. J. Heinz Company.^[3]

Lewando and her husband were killed in 1941 during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.^[3]

In 2017 the German artist Gunter Demnig installed Stolperstein for the Lewandos in Vilnius.^[10]

Cookbook

Vegetarish-Dietisher Kokhbukh cover (1938)

• Original Yiddish version: װעגעטאריש דיעטישער קאכבוך: 400 שפייזן געמאכט אויסשליסלעך פון גרינסן (Ṿegeṭarish-dieṭisher kokhbukh: 400 shpayzn gemakht oysshlishlekh fun grinsn). Vilnius: Druk. Inż. G. Kleckina, 1938.^[11]
• English translation: The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook. Garden-Fresh Recipes Rediscovered and Adapted for Today's Kitchen, translated by Eve Jochnowitz, with a preface by Joan Nathan. Schocken Books, New York City 2015, (ISBN 978-0-8052-4327-7).
• Polish translation: Dietojarska kuchnia żydowska Znak, 2020, (ISBN 978-8324071937).

References

1. Underwood, Nick (2019). "Vegetarianism as Jewish Culture and Politics in Interwar Europe". In Labendz, Jacob Ari; Yanklowitz, Shmuly (eds.). Jewish veganism and vegetarianism : studies and new directions. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. pp. 23–46. ISBN 9781438473628.
2. "Healthy eating from a different lifetime". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
3. Lewando, Fania; Jochnowitz, Eve; Sicher, Efraim (2015). "Fania Lewando: A Lost Treasure from Jewish Vilna". The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook. New York: Schocken Books. pp. xxxiii–xxxvii. ISBN 9780805243277.
4. "Veggie Burgers in 1930s Vilna – a Jewish Chef Ahead of Her Time". Haaretz. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
5. "Fanni Levando:Vegetarish-dietisher kokhbukh : 400 shpayzn gemakht oysshlislekh fun grins". Biblioteka Narodowa.
6. "310611823". viaf.org. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
7. Karpinowitz, Abraham; Mintz, Helen (2016). Vilna my Vilna : stories (First ed.). Syracuse, New York. p. xiii. ISBN 9780815653523.
8. "Traces of Jewish Cuisine in Vilnius | Go Vilnius". Go Vilnius. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
9. Di froyen : conference proceedings : women and Yiddish, tribute to the past, directions for the future. New York: National Council of Jewish Women, New York Section, Jewish Women's Resource Center. 1997. p. 55. ISBN 9781879742505.
10. "Stolpersteine in Vilnius: a meeting with relatives of famous Lithuanian Jews". Vilnius Jewish Public Library. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
11. "Polona". polona.pl. Retrieved 2021-11-17.