WHAT'S IN A NAME?

    

     Have you ever wondered why my last name is spelled Bronsteen instead of Bronstein? Be honest - - - you’ve worried yourself sick about it. As you can see from my birth certificate I was born a Bronstein.

 I've blacked out some info on this certificate to protect my identity.  I did have someone file a Federal Income Tax return in my name last year and try to get a refund and my credit card has been hacked. And I wonder what will happen if I respond to the email I got this morning from Nigeria promising a $7.5 million transfer via Western Union. All I had to do is send $350 and some personal info. I wonder if this is taxable.

     When I was a young boy my father was the subject of an article in a New York newspaper detailing a gift he made to a local charity - - - and the reporter misspelled the name as “Edward Bronsteen”. My father liked the new spelling and went to court to have his (and our) name changed. And ever since, whenever anyone in our family gives his name the other person writes it down as Bronstein. And we have to say, “No, my name is spelled ‘een’. It’s a real pain in the ass.

And speaking of Bronstein, did you know that Trotsky, the Russian Revolutionary, was born Lev Davidovich Bronstein.

     And now that I’ve solved the mystery of my family's name change came about, let’s tackle the problem of how Lev Davidovich Bronstein became Leon Trotsky.

     It’s a pretty straightforward story. The Russian revolutionary was sent to a prison camp in Siberia by the government. He managed to escape and used a forged passport to get out of the country and used the pseudonym, Leon Trotsky, on his passport.

I don’t know which of these stories you’ve found more interesting, but it really doesn’t matter as long as this posting on my Blog enthralls you.

P.S. Of course some people spell the Russian co-leader of the Bolsheviks’ name with a “z” instead of an “s” (Trotzky instead of Trotsky), but that’s a tale for a future post on my Blog. I bet you can’t wait.

     And finally  to put this saga to a rest, which it so richly deserves, my father’s brother spelled his name Braunstein.