菲利克斯.孟德爾頌.巴爾托第(Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy,1809-1847,除專有名詞外,以下簡稱菲利克斯)的姓氏寫法多元,臺灣國家教育研究院《雙語詞彙》是「Mendelssohn(Bartholdy)」;Grove Online則加了連字符「Mendelssohn(-Bartholdy)」;MGG Online從父親幫他取名、改名起筆,將姓氏放在整個家族列表前,把原姓氏置前,複姓斜體置後,變成「Mendelssohn, Mendelssohn Bartholdy」;新版《古今宗教百科全書》(RGG4)及參考書目已更新至2020年的《傳記書目教會詞典》(BBKL)都寫「Mendelssohn Bartholdy」。雖然孟德爾頌家族在哲學、宗教及音樂領域的赫赫聲名不容小覷,但是這個家族的姓氏,卻在18、19世紀普魯士錯綜複雜的政治、宗教與文化背景下,「行不更名,坐不改姓」的觀點,完全派不上用場。本文將以兩封菲利克斯父子於1829年往來的信件為主軸,釐清這個家族的姓氏脈絡,探討孟德爾頌祖孫三代的猶太教及基督教意識。
Over the course of history, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's (1809-1847) family name underwent obvious changes in spelling. The Taiwanese National Academy for Educational Research, an agency of the Ministry of Education, currently prefers the version "Mendelssohn (Bartholdy)", whereas the name appears in hyphenated version as "Mendelssohn (-Bartholdy)" on Grove Online. On MGG Online it appears as both versions "Mendelssohn, Mendelssohn Bartholdy", and the 4th edition of the RGG, as well as the newly revised BBKL (2020), opted to use "Mendelssohn Bartholdy". The members of the Mendelssohn family had a significant influence on music, philosophy and theology. Political, religious and cultural tendencies equally effectuated different notations of their surname orientated towards respective social situations and power structures in the 18th and 19th century Prussia. This article will focus on two letters between Felix Mendelssohn and his father dated 1829. It aims to clarify the particular context of the surname, and investigates the impact of Judaism and Christianity within the three generations of the Mendelssohn dynasty.