Who is Willamary Aszmann?

Does anyone have info on Willamary Aszmann?

Check out these videos:
You Asked For It: Theremin Soloist pt. 1 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=U6V7dm0j0jQ)
You Asked For It: Theremin Soloist pt. 2 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=ac8eJsIO8Ys)

In the first video, her name is said to be "Willamary". A search on Google came up with this book clipping (http://books.google.com/books?id=mDm80Af6ymMC&pg=PA351&lpg=PA351&dq=willamary+theremin&source=web&ots=lNoWi51vU9&sig=troZWRDuEyf9BepcsuZqB5vcKeE&hl=en#PPA351,M1), giving her the last name "Aszmann". I couldn't find any other info about her anywhere. Does anyone know more about her?

Some further Googling reveals, in the University of Iowa libraries (http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/Msc/ToMsc250/MsC202/MsC202.htm), among "Advertising Literature: Lecturers and Entertainers":

Madame Lydja Aszmann and her Victor Theremin (musical instrument) -- typewritten letter on verso (1930) ad brochure for Richard Alexander, bass baritone, ad sheet (n.d.)

So I'm guessing that Willamary is Lydja's daughter or niece, and that Lydja was a Polish (or Russian?) immigrant to this country. Specifically, "Aszmann" looks like a Polish spelling of the German "Aschmann."

[i]fixed broken link TW-Staff[/i]

http://www.herschbach.com/tree.htm
mentions a Willamary Aszman as daughter of Lydia Herschbach and a mr. Aszman (first name unknown).
Aszman, or Aszmann, looks more like a Jewish Hungarian name to me. Herschbach is certainly German.

--
greetings,
Jessica

Also according to
http://www.herschbach.com/gerhard.htm
Willamary's maternal grandfather Henry Herschbach was born in Missouri to German immigrants.
See http://www.herschbach.com/gerchild.htm
for moreinformation on Henry and the Herschbach Building in Chester.

(If only we knew more about mr. Aszman...)

Willamary Aszmann is mentioned on the list of East St Louis Senior High School, Class Members, 1933, St Clair County, Illinois
1933list (http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/il/stclair/school/1933list.txt)
as
Also in 1933 there lived a dr. A.M. Aszmann in East St Louis, according to legacyofwrestling (http://www.legacyofwrestling.com/Results_-_ESLouis33.html)

This doesn't help much with the theremin connection, but at least it gives an idea about Willamary's year of birth.

Last one for tonight, I promise :-)

AZMANN, Lydia H., nee HERSCHBACH, 90, d. 11 Feb 1977, Sherman Oaks, CA

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/ROOTS/1996-11/18673

Hi, Jessica--

Great spadework!

I was guessing Polish rather than Hungarian, because I thought "Aschmann" more common than "Assmann" (though a Google search on that count suggests that I might have been quite wrong).

That is, I was thinking Ger. "Aschmann" --> "Aszmann" in Polish, but "Asmann" or "Assmann" in Hungarian.

But if it were orginally Ger. "Assmann" --> "Aszmann" in Hungarian.

Either way, I'll defer to your better knowledge of European Jewish history (something I wouldn't even pretend to know about).

P.S. Oh, right: A family name might have continued with old spelling, despite the various reforms toward more consistent orthography.

So, in the words of the late, great Emily Litella:

"...Never mind."

There's a more detailed version of the Herschbach family tree site on archive.org.

Here: herschbach (http://web.archive.org/web/20060908163928/www.herschbach.com/herschbach.htm)

There is more info about Lydia here:
fam00150 (http://web.archive.org/web/20020730205721/www.herschbach.com/tree/fam00150.htm)

"Born: JAN 1886 at: Illinois"

Have you considered emailing the Herschbach site owner - there might be some living relatives.

Just came across some other book clippings about 'Soror' Aszman and her theremin Rosicrucian Digest 1937 (http://books.google.nl/books?id=GBWCVgtAnOQC&pg=PT293&vq=theremin&dq=theremin+aszman&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0) [search on theremin] and Rosicrucian Digest 1949 (http://books.google.nl/books?id=0IIKUXbxwHQC&pg=PA346&lpg=PA346&dq=soror+willamary&source=bl&ots=yXrDvfzzvU&sig=FZtJXl0zpgeJyY5ce1s8IKDKDgU&hl=nl&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA346,M1) [search on theramin and theremin].

--
greetings,
Jessica