Frieda Belinfante
Frieda Belinfante · Heroes of Israel
Cellist and the first woman in Europe to lead a professional orchestra, who forged identity papers for the Dutch resistance and helped destroy the Amsterdam population registry.
10 May 1904, Amsterdam, Netherlands — 5 March 1995, United States
Amsterdam, Netherlands & United States
Frieda Belinfante is recognized among Israeli contributors to Heroes of Israel — Cellist and the first woman in Europe to lead a professional orchestra, who forged identity papers for the Dutch resistance and helped destroy the Amsterdam population registry.
The daughter of a Jewish pianist and a Christian mother, Frieda Belinfante founded Het Klein Orkest in 1937 and became the first woman in Europe to be the standing artistic director and conductor of a professional orchestra. Barred under the Occupation, she joined the Dutch resistance and forged identity papers for Jews and others wanted by the Gestapo. Her group carried out the bombing of the Amsterdam population registry in March 1943, to destroy the records against which their forgeries could be checked.
Most of the cell was caught and shot; Belinfante survived three months disguised as a man, then crossed the Alps to Switzerland on foot. She emigrated to the United States and founded the Orange County Philharmonic.
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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frieda_Belinfante
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Cellist and the first woman in Europe to lead a professional orchestra, who forged identity papers for the Dutch resistance and helped destroy the Amsterdam population registry.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frieda_Belinfante
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