Skip to main content

Felix Klein Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 25356 / MF 1034

Scope and Content Note

The collection deals with the work and life of Felix Klein. Documents of his life, most of them in photocopies, may be found in Series I (personal). Published materials include articles, eulogies and a booklet in his remembrance; some photographs are included, too. Series II (professional) contains mainly Felix Klein's articles for the newsletter of the National Society for Graphology. Not every newsletter in this collection features an article by or about Felix Klein. There are many typed manuscripts on different graphological topics, often combined with psychological questions. There are no drafts, only finished versions. This series also contains announcements of his lectures and classes, as well as invitations to his seminars. There is no manuscript of the Theory of Directional Pressure and only one letter he wrote from Dachau.

Dates

  • Creation: 1930-2001
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1965-1994

Language of Materials

The collection is in German and English.

Access Restrictions

Open to researchers.

Collection is digitized.

Collection is microfilmed, please use MF 1034.

Access Information

Readers may access the collection by visiting the Lillian Goldman Reading Room at the Center for Jewish History. We recommend reserving the collection in advance; please visit the LBI Online Catalog and click on the "Request" button.

Use Restrictions

There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:

Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011

email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org

Biographical Note

Felix Klein was born in Vienna on January 17th, 1911. His interest in graphology was wakened when he was 13 years old. After apprenticing as a salesman in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) for one year he returned to Vienna in 1931. In Vienna he worked in his father's furniture store. In June 1935 he got married to Lisl Friedmann with whom he later had three sons. From June 1938 until the end of April 1939 he was interned at the concentration camps of Dachau and Buchenwald. There he studied his fellow prisoners' handwritings and developed the Theory of Directional Pressure, later to become a standard procedure in the science of graphology. After his release from the concentration camps he left for London and was a trainee for a year. He arrived in New York in April 1940. (After several years of unemployment he worked in different jobs, he later learned to be a watchmaker.) In 1969 he began to work at "Gain Handwriting Service Inc." which later became "Manhattan Handwriting Consultant." In 1972 he founded the National Society for Graphology, a renowned institute for analyzing handwritings and teaching graphology. Felix Klein was well known within the circle of graphologists, attending congresses and writing articles for newspapers and magazines. He regularly wrote for the Newsletter of the National Society for Graphology and was also a witness in court when handwriting was in question. Besides that he was a dedicated teacher. In 1986 he married Janice Bottenus. Felix Klein died on June 26, 1994.

Extent

1 Linear Feet

Abstract

The Felix Klein Collection documents the work and life of the Vienna-born graphologist Felix Klein. Prominent among the collection is his work as a graphologist and founder of the National Society for Graphology. The papers consist of official documents, newspaper articles, publications, manuscripts and a few photographs.

Arrangement

This collection is comprised of two series:

Microfilm

Collection is available on 2 reels of microfilm (MF 1034).

  1. Reel 1: 1/1-2/7
  2. Reel 2: 2/8-2/11

Related Material

A memoir of Felix Klein's time in Dachau may be found in the LBI's archives (ME 1414).

Title
Guide to the Papers of Felix Klein (1911-1994) 1930-2001 AR 25356 / MF 1034
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Friederike Haller and LBI Staff
Date
© 2009
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.
Edition statement
This version was derived from FelixKlein.xml

Revision Statements

  • September 2010:: Links to digital objects added in Container List.
  • 2010-09-20 : encoding of linking to digital objects from finding aid was changed from <extref> to <dao> through dao_conv.xsl

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States