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KLEINMAN Origin of surname

KLEINMAN, KLEYMAN

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from a physical or personal characteristic or nickname.

Kleinman(n) is the German/Yiddish for "small man". Kleyman is a variant of Kleynman, in which the first "n" has been dropped. Variants of Klein comprise Klain, Clain, Klainer, Klajner, Kleinermann ("small man"), Kleinberg ("small mountain") and in post World War II France, Clement.

Distinguished 20th century bearers of the Jewish family name Kleinman include the American physician and educator, Abraham M. Kleinman, and the Galician-born American rabbi, Philip Kleinman.

Pavel Cristescu (born Faivel Kleinman) (1913-1986), Communist activist born in Moldova (then Bessarabia in the Russian Empire, a region incorporated into Romania after 1918). He joined the Romanian Communist Party in 1931 at a time when the Communist movement was illegal in Romania. He volunteered to the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. In 1946, after the establishment of the Communist regime in Romania, Cristescu was appointed head of the Personnel Directorate and in 1948 he was advanced to the rank of general-lieutenant and nominated head of the General Directorate of the Militia from the Ministry of Interior (Communist police), a position he held until 1952. In 1947, he was granted the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Romanian army. During the 1950s and 1960s he was director general at the Ministry of Chemical Industry. He died in Bucharest, Romania.

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KLEINMAN Origin of surname
KLEINMAN, KLEYMAN

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from a physical or personal characteristic or nickname.

Kleinman(n) is the German/Yiddish for "small man". Kleyman is a variant of Kleynman, in which the first "n" has been dropped. Variants of Klein comprise Klain, Clain, Klainer, Klajner, Kleinermann ("small man"), Kleinberg ("small mountain") and in post World War II France, Clement.

Distinguished 20th century bearers of the Jewish family name Kleinman include the American physician and educator, Abraham M. Kleinman, and the Galician-born American rabbi, Philip Kleinman.
Written by researchers of ANU Museum of the Jewish People
Pavel Cristescu

Pavel Cristescu (born Faivel Kleinman) (1913-1986), Communist activist born in Moldova (then Bessarabia in the Russian Empire, a region incorporated into Romania after 1918). He joined the Romanian Communist Party in 1931 at a time when the Communist movement was illegal in Romania. He volunteered to the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. In 1946, after the establishment of the Communist regime in Romania, Cristescu was appointed head of the Personnel Directorate and in 1948 he was advanced to the rank of general-lieutenant and nominated head of the General Directorate of the Militia from the Ministry of Interior (Communist police), a position he held until 1952. In 1947, he was granted the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Romanian army. During the 1950s and 1960s he was director general at the Ministry of Chemical Industry. He died in Bucharest, Romania.