Hannah Frank & Lionel Levy Collection (HFLLC)
- Reference:GB 1220 HFLLC
- Dates of Creation:1902 - ongoing
- Name of Creator:
- Language of Material:English Hebrew French
- Physical Description:32 boxes
Scope and Content
The Hannah Frank Lionel Levy Collection (HFLLC) is a significant collection relating to a Scottish woman artist. It includes diaries, scrapbooks, photo albums, correspondence, certificates, degrees, awards, personal papers and press cuttings relating to Hannah, her husband Lionel Levy and her father, Charles Frank. It also includes material about Hannah’s brothers and their families and about the work of her niece Fiona Frank over many years in promoting and exhibiting her aunt’s work.
Administrative / Biographical History
Hannah Frank was born in Glasgow in 1908 to Lithuanian Jewish immigrant parents Charles Frank and Miriam Lipetz. She was one of four children, together with brothers Leo, Arthur and Morris. In 1908, Charles Frank opened up a shop in Glasgow’s Saltmarket, designing, selling and repairing photographic and scientific apparatus. Hannah grew up in the Gorbals, attending Abbotsford School. The family moved to Govanhill in 1917, and from 1926-30, Hannah studied English and Latin at the University of Glasgow, where she graduated in Arts in 1930. She developed as an artist, producing her trademark black and white drawings from the age of 17. Her style was resonant of the Art Nouveau period. Using the pen name Al- Aaraaf, Hannah submitted poems and drawings to Glasgow University Magazine (especially 1927-32). She was also an active member of the Glasgow University Jewish Society (GUJS). Later, she attended Jordanhill Teacher Training College and taught in Glasgow schools. She went to night classes at Glasgow School of Art, studying wood engraving and drawing. There, Benno Schotz encouraged her to take up sculpture. From the 1950s onwards, she specialised in sculpture. Her drawings and sculptures were exhibited far and wide. In 1939, Hannah married Lionel Levy, a maths and science teacher whom she had met through GUJS. Lionel died in 2003 and Hannah died in 2008, aged 100. Hannah left her papers (and those of her husband) to the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre. In later life, and following her death, Hannah Frank's artistic legacy has been looked after by her family, in particular Fiona Frank, her niece.
Access Information
Open subject to data protection requirements; please contact the archive to arrange access.
Acquisition Information
Hannah Frank Levy bequest
Archivist's Note
This collection has not yet been arranged, and the catalogue is a box list only. Consider that related items may appear separately. Catalogued by SJAC; edited for Your Scottish Archives portal 2023.
Custodial History
Papers of Hannah Frank and Lionel Levy bequeathed to the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre by Hannah Frank, 2008
Corporate Names