Otto Schneid

Otto Schneid was born in 1900 in Jablunkov

Schneid was born on 30 January 1900 in Jablunkov, Austrian Silesia, to Jakob and Bluma Schneid, Polish-Jewish immigrants. His family moved to Bielsko-Biała during his childhood, and he grew up there. He painted and made models for sculptures from a young age.

He studied art history, philosophy and other subjects at the University of Vienna and also studied at the University of Paris. He completed his doctorate in art history in 1926.

He traveled in Europe, lecturing on art, and published his first book in 1934, on plants and animals in Chinese art. From 1936 to 1938 he lived in Vilnius and founded an art museum under YIVO. His monograph on Jewish artists was seized after the Anschluss, and he hid in Warsaw before reaching the Land of Israel in February 1939.

In the Land of Israel he wrote books and lectured in kibbutzim and clubs. In 1944 he changed his first name to Naftali, and in 1945 he married the poet Miriam Goldschmidt. In November 1947 he became a lecturer at the Technion in the history of architecture and art.

He later worked as a professor in North America. He died on 12 May 1974 in Toronto. His archives are kept by the National Library of Israel and the University of Toronto.