Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

August 22, 2023

How a False (and Anti-Semitic) Accusation of Patricide Almost Derailed the Career of a Great Photographer

Philippe Halsman, Austrian Dreyfus.

In the 1940s and 50s, Philippe Halsman (1906–1979) established himself as one of America’s leading photographers, known for his fashion shoots as well as for his portraits of Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, Salvador Dali, and numerous other public figures. But in 1928, while vacationing in the Alps with his parents and younger sister, he and his father took a fateful hike in the Austrian region of Tyrol. His father fell to his death; Philippe ran to get help and soon found himself accused of murder. Karen Haber describes the incident:

SaveGift