Narcisse Leven

Born in Uerdingen, Prussia (today in Germany), and educated in Paris, Narcisse Leven graduated from the Sorbonne Law Faculty. A politically active French republican, Leven served as an elected member of the Paris municipal council for eight years and was Adolphe Cremiuex’s secretary for a number of years. Heavily influenced by the Mortara Case, Leven cofounded the Alliance Israélite Universelle in 1860; he served in a number of executive positions there, notably as president from 1898 to 1915. As a trustee of the Baron de Hirsch fund, Leven became very involved in the Jewish Colonization Association (JCA), where he served as president. He was a board member of the French rabbinical seminary, the Jewish Consistory of Paris, and a successful attorney.