Susskind (German Süßkind "sweet child", variants Suskind, Suskin, Siskind, Ziskind, Ziskin, Siskin, etc.) is a Jewish surname of German origin.
History
Süsskind in the German medieval period was a given name, not a surname, specifically recorded as carried by Jews since the early 13th century. A Jew named Süsskind is recorded as a physician in the hospital of Würzburg in 1218.
Süsskind, the Jew of Trimberg (Middle High German Sueskint der Jude von Trimperg) is one of the minnesingers whose work is compiled in the early-14th-century Codex Manesse. This poet is otherwise unknown, and there is no proof that the poems recorded under his name are from a single author, but the language of the poems is consistent with an author of the second half of the 13th century native to the Rhineland. There is also a Jewish motif in V.2, where the poet proclaims his intention to leave the courtly sphere and live humbly "in the manner of old Jews", besides possible allusions to Hebrew prayers in I.3.
Süsskind remained a widely-used given name among German-speaking Jews into the 19th century. Beginning in the 18th century, some Jews adopted Süsskind as a patronymic surname. Süsskind ceased to be used as a given name around mid-19th-century.
The baronial family of Süßkind is descended from Johann Gottlieb Süßkind, a cousin of theologian Friedrich Gottlieb Süskind, who was given the title of nobility by the king of Bavaria in 1821. The family is descended from one Michael Süßkind, recorded as a citizen of Esslingen in 1425.
The surname was introduced to the United States by the 1880s.
People with the given name
Süsskind of Trimberg, 13th-century minnesinger
Alexander Süsskind of Grodno (d. 1794), Russian kabbalist
Süsskind Raschkow (d. 1836), German poet
Jekutiel-Süßkind Cohen, rabbi, father of Raphael Cohen (Rafael ben Jekutiel Süsskind Kohen, 1722–1803), Chief Rabbi of Altona-Hamburg-Wandsbek
People with the surname
Susskind
Arthur Susskind (1886–1967), American boxer
Fred Susskind (1891–1957), South African Test cricketer
Walter Susskind (1913–1980), Czech conductor
David Susskind (1920–1987), American producer and talk show host
Leonard Susskind (b. 1940), American theoretical physicist and father of string theory Lawrence Susskind (b. 1947), American dispute mediator Richard Susskind (b. 1961), British legal and IT adviser Steve Susskind (1942–2005), American actor and singer
Suskind
Richard Suskind (1925–1999), American writer convicted of fraud
Ron Suskind (b. 1959), American author and investigative journalist
Süskind
Friedrich Gottlieb Süskind (1767–1829), German Protestant theologian
Walter Süskind (1906–1945), German Holocaust victim
Wilhelm Emanuel Süskind (1901–1970), German author
Patrick Süskind (b. 1946) German writer and screenwriter, son of Wilhelm Emanuel Süskind
See also
Süskind (film), 2012 Dutch film about Walter Süskind (1906–1945) Topics named after Leonard Susskind Smolin–Susskind debate Kogut–Susskind fermion Susskind–Glogower operator Fischler–Susskind mechanism Susskind–Hawking battle Sussman Süß Jud Süß (1940 film)
References
Ricarda Bauschke, "Süßkind von Trimberg – Ein jüdischer Autor in der Manessischen Handschrift" in: Schulze (ed.), Juden in der deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters, Tübingen (2002). Robert Singerman, Jewish Given Names and Family Names: A New Bibliography (2001), p. 222.