A DOCTOR, AN ARTIST & TICHO HOUSE

Dr Avraham (Albert) Ticho (1883-1960) & his wife and first cousin Anna Ticho (1894-1980) were born in Moravia which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire & is today part of the Czech republic. Dr Ticho was a graduate of the university of Vienna & specialized in opthalmology. Anna Ticho graduated from the Vienna Academy of Art, the self same instituition that rejected the would be artist, Adolph Hitler. They made Aliyah in 1912 to what was then called Palestine.

After working for a short period of time at the Lema'an Zion Eye hospital in the Musrara quarter of Jerusalem, he opened a clinic at his house which he purchased in 1924 from Aga Rashid Nashashibi, a wealthy Arab who built the house in 1864. After extensive renovations, the ground floor was converted into a clinic & the upper floor served as living quarters for the couple. Its previous tenant was the infamous antiquites dealer Moses Wilhelm Shapira who rented the house from 1873 to 1883. The house is located on HaRav Agan St 10, Jerusalem, between today's Ha-Nevi'im & Jaffa streets.

The eye desease known as trachoma was at the time rampant amongst all segments of the population which comprised of Jews, Christians & Arabs. Trachoma is an infectious disease caused by bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. Due to overcrowding & the dismal sanitary conditions of the period, infections spread rapidly, especially amongst children & woman. The infection causes a roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids resulting in the formation of scars that cause pain in the eyes. The scars erode the cornea, which is the transparent part of the eye that covers the front portion of the eye & if not treated, leads to blindness. Antibiotics were not available at the time so Dr Ticho resorted to a surgical solution inwhich he removed the scared tissue. Hundreds of patients passed through his hands each week.

Dr Ticho was stabbed and severly injured by an Arab assailant during the 1929 Arab riots instigated by Haj Amin el-Husseini, the British appointed mufti of Jerusalem & supporter of the "Final Solution" who spent the war years in Germany under Hitler's protection. On hearing the news, the Jerusalem populace reacted in unison and Jews, Christians & Arabs all prayed for his recovery, such was the esteem in which he & Anna were held. Anna having assisted him as a nurse throughout. Dr Ticho fully recovered from his wounds and continued his work. The couple were unable to have children. I once read an article which I unfortunately have not been able to relocate, that tells the story of an Arab woman who offered to relinqish one of her babies to the couple. Touched by the gesture, Avraham & Anna nevertheless declined the offer.

Dr Ticho also indulged in a hobby that involved the collection of Hanukka candelabra which today is a prized exhibit housed in the Israel Museum.

On arriving in Jerusalem in 1912, Anna, who in addition to her nursing commitments embarked on an artistic journey using paint, pen & ink, charcoal, pastel & pencil to express her love for Jerusalem and its surrounds. To a friend she wrote : " I came to Jerusalem when it was still ‘virgin territory,’ with vast, breathtakingly beautiful vistas … I was impressed by the grandeur of the scenery, the bare hills, the large, ancient olives trees, and the cleft slopes … the sense of solitude and eternity."

Her work is more a personal rather than historical observation of her surrounds & unashamedbly expresses the disintegration & abandonment it evoked. Focusing on & emphasizing the different textures & components that make up buildings, she uses short & fine lines to portray the stones, windows, flat & domed roofs, imbuing each element with a different texture & accentuating their relationship to each other by the use of light & shade. Vegetation and in particular her olive tree "portraits" are meticulously detailed. Gnarled & convoluted tree trunks sprouting twisted branches dressed in leaves emerge from the ancient soil & are an expression of resilience & perpetuity, as are her water colour portraits of both young and old people. She achieves a timeless quality with her landscape renditions by accentuating the hilly expanse & endlessness of the horizon. Her later works are less detailed & in order to achieve a focal point, she highlighted selected areas within each work with splashes of rich pastel tones.

Anna Ticho bequethed Ticho House to the Israel Museum for the benefit of the citizens of Jerusalem. The property houses a terrace café and gift shop & is a venue for both poetry and fictional readings as well as venue for concerts and theatre performances.

Ron Traub (Tour Guide & Architect). Website : rontraub-tours.com Photo's : Rimonah Traub & the internet.