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Chaim and Zelda
In 1900, Dr Chaim Koonin and his wife, Zelda arrived in Cape Town on the Tantallon Castle. They had emigrated from the Minsk area, in what they called, Lithuania. It is now part of Belarus ( White Russia). They were followed by their children, Efrohim (Alfred), Zalman (Sam), Lazar, Finkel, Fannie, Rebecca, Paula (Polly), Morris. A year later the Tantallon Castle ran aground on Robben Island, 7 miles from Cape Town.
Dr Chaim Koonin may have been an internist. 3 of his sons were dentists. He died in 1912 while Zelda Gluskin, the mother of four of his children, died in 1933. In the last years of her life, she lived with her daughter-in-law, Malka Koonin.
Children of Chaim and Zelda
Malka and Alfred (Efroim) Koonin
Efroim (Alfred) was born in Minsk in 1876. He was a dentist and may have graduated from Kharkiv University with the following: D.D.S.I.U. He and Malka Machtin immigrated to South Africa in 1902. She was pregnant with her first child, Jesse, when they landed in Cape Town. They first settled in Montagu, a small town, 185 km from Cape Town. Montagu is known for its hot springs. It is situated in an area known as the Little Karoo and is part of a set of arid plateaus that cover much of the center of South Africa. They later moved to Cape Town where they lived in the vicinity of Roeland Street.
Malka and Alfred had five children. Jesse was the first, followed by Rhoda, Harry, Sadie and Abram (Ted).
Sam (Zalman) and Masha Koonin
Sam (Zalman) Koonin was a dentist who practiced in South Africa before he moved to Nairobi, in Kenya where he also practiced as a dentist. He is believed to have owned a coffee plantation there. He died in Nairobi in 1939. He was 55 years old.
He and Masha may have had 7 children. They were Leon “Sonny”, Sarah Koonin Rakoff, Jessie “Poppy” Koonin Levi, Eric, Lawrence, Arthur, Doris (Topsy).
Fanny Koonin Zurnamer
Fanny was one of two sisters who married two Zurnamer brothers. Fanny may have arrived in Cape Town with her father, Chaim Koonin, according to ship logs of the Tantallon Castle. She married Samuel Zurnamer and had children: Louis, Janie, Harry, Sadie, Anne and Jessie
She married Chaim Watkins in 1947 after Sam passed away.
Finkel Koonin
Approx. 1871 to May 27th 1945
Finkel Koonin was married to Mordechai Margolius and then Abraham Fialkov. Her children were Myer Margolius, pictured here and the Fialkovs: Aaron, Bertram, Goldie and Yetta.
According to ships’ logs, Finkel travelled to Cape Town, South Africa in 1897.
Rebecca Koonin
1875 to 1950
Rebecca was married to Jacob Zurnamer and had six children with him: Abraham (aka Harry Zurne), Jane, Lionel, Hyman, Sadie, and Jessie.
She later married Isaac Hirshfield (August 1938). Their son was Solomon Hirshfield.
Lazarus Koonin
1881 to 1940
Lazar was married to Erna (Esther?) Jacobson. Their children were Barney, Leah, Sadie and Jessie
Pauline ("Polly") Koonin
1884-May 28, 1954
Polly was married to Mendel Stolpinsky with who she had two children: Harry and Nancy.
Maurice Koonin
1886(?) to February 1952
Maurice Koonin is, ironically, the most enigmatic, and the most documented member of the Koonin family. He may have been a half-brother of the other Koonin siblings listed here. He possibly had many marriages one of which was to Janie Hilkovitz. They had two children Anne and Hymie. He also may have been married to Florence Una Ryall, Gertrude Magdalena de Klerk.