Rafael Frank was born on March 11, 1867 in Ichenhasen, near Augsburg. He was the third child of Gershon Frank, a Jewish antiques dealer, who fortune had made poor in material goods, but rich in children. His [Rafael Frank’s] mother, who loved music and enjoyed playing an instrument herself, had a neighboring musician give her son, Rafael, piano and violin lessons at an early age. With the encouragement of this music teacher, Frank’s parents decided to let their son become a musician and boarded him with distant relatives in Munich for this purpose. But music studies soon seemed too expensive for the elder Frank. He brought his son back from Munich and sent him to a teacher’s preparatory school and in 1884 to the teacher training academy in Cologne (Rhine). Thus, he became a teacher, holding a position as such in Simmern, and then in Neuss (Rhine), going to Halle (Saale) in 1895 and Leipzig in 1903.
At the academy, he had to engage with all sorts of subjects, loved nature and enjoyed studying botany, but also remained true to music. He studied music theory with a highly-regarded master in Düsseldorf and was a virtuoso violinist. His wonderfully beautiful voice and consummate vocal artistry touched the hearts of all who heard him during worship services and turned their thoughts toward contemplation. After his training, he devoted himself with particular enthusiasm to the study of the history, literature and language of his forefathers. Even in his school years, Frank’s gift for drawing and painting had elicited the comment from his drawing teacher that the skill of the student exceeded that of the teacher. His propensity for this art grew even stronger in combination with his predilection for the Hebrew language, literature and ancient Oriental scripts. By the time he started working in Leipzig, he was known as a respected authority in this area. He hoped that his move to the City of Books would be stimulating and provide a wide field of activity for his artistic pursuits. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the war that disrupted in so many ways the free and joyous effects of all creative energy also restricted his artistic work. At least he lived to see, once more, his only son, who returned from the field, having recovered from severe wounds. But he could carry out only a few of his many artistic plans and designs. Despite his rich knowledge and many-sided talents, he remained a person with childlike piety, modest, noble and good. The will of God, for us dark and impenetrable, snatched him, in the midst of joyous creation, from the circle of his family, friends and admirers long before the time that the Bible tells us is a life span.
He died after a short illness in March 1920 at the age of 53.
May his memory redound to us as a blessing.
—Johanna Frank