Leo Smit
Leopold "Leo" Smit (14 May 1900 – 30 April 1943) was a Dutch composer, murdered during The Holocaust at the Sobibor extermination camp.
Also recorded as Leopold Smit
Leo Smit
Ceescamel · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Leo Smit
- Birth Name
- Leopold Smit
- Born
- 14 May 1900
- Birthplace
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Died
- 30 April 1943
- Place of death
- Sobibór extermination camp
- Occupation
- Composer
- Nationality
- Kingdom of the Netherlands.
- Education
- Conservatorium van Amsterdam.
- Languages
- Dutch.
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Documentary connections
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q643984
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
The documentary record
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Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Leo Smit • Birth Name — Leopold Smit • Born — 14 May 1900 • Birthplace — Amsterdam, Netherlands • Died — 30 April 1943 • Place of death — Sobibór extermination camp • Era — 20th century • Occupation — Composer
Documentary record
Leo Smit appears in the authority records of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek as a composer and pianist (14 May 1900 – 30 April 1943). Leo Smit was born on 14 May 1900 in Amsterdam and died on 30 April 1943.
Life
Life
He came from a mixed Ashkenazi and Portuguese-Sephardi Jewish family. He was born at Plantage Kerklaan 17, Amsterdam, and studied piano at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Sem Dresden and Ulfert Schults and then composition with Bernard Zweers and Sem Dresden. In 1927 he moved to Paris, where the music of Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky made a deep impression on him. Here he was in close contact with the group of composers known as Les Six, which included Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, and Francis Poulenc. He married Lien de Vries in Amsterdam in January 1933. At the end of 1936, Smit moved to Brussels, where he stayed for a year. In late 1937, he returned to Amsterdam, where he completed his last work, the sonata for flute and piano, on February 12, 1943. On April 27, 1943 he was deported to Sobibor, where he was killed three days later. After his death there was for a time little interest in his music, but since the late 1980s, his work has been performed regularly. A 4-CD box set containing his complete works, Kamermuziek en Orkestwerken (NM 93003) has been issued.
Documentary record
Leo Smit died in Sobibor, Poland, according to the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1900
Leo Smit was born on 14 May 1900.
1943
Leo Smit died at Sobibór Extermination Camp.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Leo Smit was born in Amsterdam.
Birthplace
Leo Smit died in Sobibór Extermination Camp.
Deathplace
Amsterdam.
Birth place
Sobibór Extermination Camp.
Death place
Compositions
• Sonata for Flute and Piano (1943); orchestrated in 1989 by Willem Strietman • String Quartet (1939–1943) • Divertimento for Piano 4-Hands (1940); orchestrated in 2008 by Andries van Rossem and in 2022/2025 by Peter Bouma • Concerto for Viola and String Orchestra (1940) • De bruid (The Fiancée) for Female Chorus (1939); words by Jan Prins • Suite for Oboe and Cello (1938) • Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano (1938) • Kleine Prelude van Ravel for Alto and Piano (1938); poem by Martinus Nijhoff • La Mort (Death) for Soprano, Alto and Piano (1938); words by Charles Baudelaire • Concerto for Piano and Wind Orchestra (1937) • Concertino for Cello and Orchestra (1937) • Symphonie in C (1936) • Sextet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn and Piano (1933) • Concertino for Harp and Orchestra (1933) • Deux hommages for Piano (1928–1930) • Schemselnihar, Ballet for orchestra (1929) • Quintet for Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello and Harp (1928) • Trio for Flute, Viola and Harp (1926) • Suite for Piano (1926); Forlane et Rondeau, movements freely orchestrated in 1958 by Godfried Devreese • Silhouetten for Orchestra (1925) • Voorspel tot Teirlincks "De vertraagde film" (Overture to Teirlinck's "De Vertraagde Film") for Orchestra (1923) • Twintig eenvoudige oefeningen (20 Simple Exercises) for Piano • Twaalf stukken voor 4 handen (12 Pieces) for Piano 4-Hands
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Leo Smit (Dutch composer), revision 1350802402 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
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authority record
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
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Best supported in this field
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