Sonnenthal was an Jewish actor who was born in Pest, Austro-Hungary. The presentation of this medal to him by the Jewish Museum rather than by a higher authority (in spite of Sonnenthal being accorded nobility by the emperor) was probably due to the anti-Semitism of the Viennese mayor, Karl Lueger (in 1896 the celebration of his fortieth anniversary was marred by the anti-Semitic feeling of the Vienna city council which refused to extend the freedom of the city to him).

The medallist Telcs was Jewish Hungarian, and became the official war medalist of the Austro-Hungarian empire during the First World War. This medal was one of five he presented to the Hungarian Jewish Museum, and may therefore represent one of the most important works of his according to his own judgment.
]]> The vice president of the Vienna Jewish Museum]]>
A Magyar-Zsidó Múzeum katalógusa. Budapest, Franklin Társulat nyomdája, 1916. B/III/b/16 ]]>