Alphonse Frankenstein (Victor's father)

frankenstein_alphonse-victorprison ALPHONSE FRANKENSTEIN

Real Name: Alphonse Frankenstein

Identity/Class: Human;
citizen of the Holy Roman Empire (but close enough to be included under Germans in my book);
18^th century and possibly early 19^th century A.D.

Occupation: Unspecified respected role as a public official for the Swiss government

Group Membership: The von Frankenstein Family (not a team, but a grouping);

Affiliations: Mr. Beaufort, Henry Clerval;
formerly Justine Moritz

Enemies: The Frankenstein monster (although he did not know of its existence);
(via misunderstanding) Justine Moritz

Known Relatives: Caroline Frankenstein (nee Beaufort, wife, deceased);
    Anna Eleonora Munchmeyer (paternal grandmother, deceased), Johann Philip Dippel (paternal grandfather, deceased);
    Konrad Dippel (aka Baron von Frankenstein; father, deceased); Anna Catharina Muller (mother, deceased);
       two paternal uncles (all presumably deceased), five paternal aunts (all presumably deceased) - see Konrad Dippel's profile for possible identifications of these relatives;
    Ernst Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, William Frankenstein (sons, deceased); Elizabeth Lavenza (daughter by adoption, deceased);

    Vincent von Frankenstein (great-great-grandson, deceased), Lenore von Frankenstein (great-great-granddaughter-in-law), Victoria von Frankenstein (apparent great-great-granddaughter; see comments in her profile)
    Basil Frankenstein (great-great-great-grandson, deceased);
    Ludwig von Frankenstein (great-great-great-great-grandson);
    Veronica von Frankenstein (great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter);
    Jason von Frankenstein (uncertain relationship, deceased);
    Maximilian Frankenstein (Maximilian von Katzenelnbogen, distant relative);
    other Frankensteins

Aliases: None known

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly Geneva, Switzerland;
formerly the (apparently) original Castle Frankenstein, on the northern edge of the Magnet mountain on the banks of the river Rhine, in the territory of Hesse/Hessengau (now apparently Darmstadt, Germany);

First Appearance: Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818);
(Marvel) (The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (January, 1973);
(name Alphonse confirmed) Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (January, 1992)

Powers/Abilities: Alphonse had no superhuman power or special abilities.

He wore glasses, at least later in life, although his specific deficiency and prescription is undefined.

He was a strong moral center for his family and a strong believer in helping other and pursuing proper science and studies; he disdained alchemy and its users. He was also a respected man in Geneva due to past political work. He presumably had skill in politics.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'8"-5'10"; he was close to Victor's height)
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 160-200 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: White (likely darker in youth)

History:
(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (fb) - BTS) - Fearing the fabled curse of the Rock of the Franks following the death of Konrad Dippel (aka Baron von Frankenstein) in 1734, Konrad's family of two brothers and five sisters (see comments) fled to Switzerland, taking with them Konrad's infant son, Alphonse. In Geneva, they began a new life. frankenstein_alphonse-victorborn

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus) - Alphonse spent his youth working in public positions.

(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (fb) - BTS) - Alphonse Frankenstein grew-up to become a respected bourgeois, a member of the German middle class.

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus) - Alphonse and Beaufort were close friends, but Beaufort fell into hard financial times despite having been a successful merchant. Alphonse helped him pay his debts and wanted to help him regain his previous status, but by this time, Beaufort was in poor health. When Beaufort passed away, Alphonse took Beaufort's daughter Caroline back to Geneva to care for her.

A few years later, the two married and had their first child, Victor, soon after.

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus) - Alphonse and Caroline had two other sons together, Ernest and William. They also adopted Elizabeth Lavenza, with whom Victor would later fall in love and marry.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb)) - William was Victor's younger brother.

(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (fb) - BTS) - Ernst was the third son of Alphonse and Caroline.

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus) - His marriage and subsequent family led Alphonse to leave his job as a public official for the Swiss government to focus on being a good husband and father. Alphonse Frankenstein's job, nonetheless led to him being not just a wealthy man, but a respected member of the community.

    Alphonse educated his children, including teaching them Latin and English. His unforced teaching methods helped them appreciate the goals they were trying to reach.

    When Victor was a thirteen and became interested in studying alchemy, specifically the work of Cornelius Agrippa, Alphonse bluntly told Victor to stop. That subject, he noted, "is sad trash."
    Victor later stated that his father's dogmatic condemnation of the work without explaining his reasons contributed to his continuing that line of research and ultimately developing the process for creating the creature.

    Caroline contracted Scarlet Fever when caring for the young Elizabeth, who had contracted the disease; Caroline died when Victor was seventeen, right before he left for the university.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb)) - As Victor prepared to depart for the University of Geneva, Alphonse advised him to study hard...that his family may be proud of him on his return.

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus) - Years later, while Victor worked on the Creature, Alphonse wrote to him and said, "You must pardon me, if I regard any interruption in your correspondence as a proof that your other duties are equally neglected."

    After the Victor's monster vengefully slew Victor's youngest brother, William, Alphonse notified Victor. The monster framed the murder on Justine Moritz, who had been adopted into the Frankenstein household and served as a maidservant and nanny to William, by placing a picture of Caroline given by her to William in Justine's grasp while she slept.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb)) - Correctly suspecting the true killer, Victor returned to his family. He discussed that he could not believe Justine to have done such a thing, but Alphonse discussed how the courts had dismissed any possible framing.

    Ultimately, Justine hanged for the crime.

    Alphonse said to Victor, "Is it not a duty to the survivors, that we should refrain from augmenting their unhappiness by an appearance of immoderate grief? It is also a duty owed to yourself; for excessive sorrow prevents improvement or enjoyment, or even the discharge of daily usefulness, without which no man is fit for society."

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#3 (fb) - BTS) - Years later, after Victor had been imprisoned for the murder of his friend Henry Clerval (which had actually been committed by the monster created by Victor) in a laboratory in the vicinity of the Swiss Alps, Alphonse spoke with the woman who had testified that she had seen Victor leaving the laboratory in which Henry had been found. The woman admitted that she had seen another leave the laboratory, and Alphonse wrote a letter detailing this. frankenstein_alphonse-victor&elizabeth

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#3 (fb)) - Alphonse met with Victor in his prison cell, telling him of the letter that would free him as soon as court accepted it. Alphonse thanked God that he sped him to Victor's side to lift this burden from him.

     The following day, Alphonse achieved Victor's release, and he took the strangely pensive Victor -- who had been threatened by his monstrous creation the night before home.

    When they reached their home, Alphonse was elated to see Victor's melancholy lifted upon being reunited with his fiance', Elizabeth, and he left the two alone as he retired for the night.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#3 (fb) - BTS) - Alphonse almost certainly attended Victor and Elizabeth's subsequent wedding.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#3 (fb) - BTS) - After the monster vengefully slew Elizabeth, Alphonse was devastated and fell ill.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#3 (fb)) - Victor waited with Alphonse until his death three days later. frankenstein_alphonse-deathbed

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#3 (fb) - BTS) - After spending some time in an insane asylum, Victor resolved to destroy the monster.

Comments: Created by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
adapted by Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog.

    This regular test is mostly limited to that which has been included in Marvel stories. As I have not read the Frankenstein novel, I have supplemented the Marvel information from the original stories in italics, based on checking a few websites, suchas study.com, the Mary Shelley Wiki and Wikipedia.
    If you have read the novel and can provide any corrections or supplemental information, please share.
    It is important to note that if it was not included in the Marvel stories, it is not confirmed as having happened in Reality-616.

Victor recalls that "No creature could have more tender parents than mine."

Alphonse Frankenstein, who is only named once in the novel yet appears throughout, ends up being one of the Creature's final victims. His death is the one that finally pushes Victor to confess his crimes and seek help in finding and capturing the Creature.

You can get more detail from the ...and from reading the original novel

The cover of comics says "The Monster of Frankenstein," but the indicia says only "Frankenstein," so that is the actual title of the comic.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Alphonse Frankenstein should be distinguished from:

any other character with a similar name

Caroline Frankenstein (nee Beaufort)

(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (fb) - BTS) - In 1760, during a journey to Naples, Alphonse's wife gave birth to Victor, the first of their three children. Looking into the smiling face of his newborn son, Alphonse believed that at last the curse of the Frankensteins was truly ended.

--Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus; Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37

Note: Caroline was not pictured or identified in the (Monster of) Frankenstein series.
She is pictured in a distant shot and identied as Alphonse's wife in Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37

Per the Mary Shelley Wiki:

     Caroline characterizes the ideal woman in the 18t^h century. She is described to be the ideal daughter, wife, and mother. Victor describes his mother as possessing “a mind of uncommon mould." Her whole life revolved around taking care of her family. She is a selfless nurturer.

     Before marrying Alphonse, once her father became financially unfortunate, she attempted to take care of her father by taking on "plain work." When his health left him, she nursed him until his death. When he died, she committed herself to taking care of Alphonse and became his wife. Then, she committed herself to their children, encouraged the adoption of Elizabeth, and took in Justine Moritz to live with them.

     When Elizabeth gets scarlet fever, Caroline cannot stay away from checking on her, which ends in her contraction of the fever and to her demise (when Victor was 17, just before he left for the university). However, even on her deathbed, “the fortitude and benignity of this admirable woman did not desert her”

Caroline's picture, given to her youngest son, William, was deposited in Justine's pocket by the monster after slaying William. This led Justine to be executed for William's death.

images: (without ads)
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#1, pg. 7, panel 1 (face; profile, bidding Victor farewell to attend college);
    #3, pg. 6, panel 3 (upper, comforting Victor in prison);
       pg. 8, panel 6 (thanking Elizabeth);
       pg. 13, panel 2 (deathbed);
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37, pg. 9, panel 5 (on balcony, with birth of Victor);

Appearances:
Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818) - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (writer)
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (January, 1973) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Mike Ploog (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#3 (May, 1973) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Mike Ploog (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (January, 1992) - Jean-Marc Lofficier, Roy & Dan Thomas (writers), Geof Isherwood (artist), Mike Rockwitz (editor)

First posted: 11/01/2023
Last updated: 11/09/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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