XIXth century CE

banker, politician, president of the Jewish Community in Chernivtsi

Venetian Jew, born Isacco Pesaro (son of Israel Pesaro of Ferrara), adopted by David Maurogonato whose combined name he took. Jurist (Padua, 1838), he became Minister of Finance of the Republic of…

Born in Casale Monferrato in the local Jewish community, director of the Biblioteca Braidense in Milan. Author of works on numismatics and Hebrew inscriptions, editor of the Rivista di Lettere,…

Son of Shadal (Samuel David Luzzatto), he collected, organized, and published his father's work and correspondence — notably the Epistolario (Igrot Shadal) and the bibliography of his writings —…

Realist novelist, author of Be-Ein Mattarah, milestone of the Hebrew novel.

Born in Hegenheim (Alsace), republican official under Gambetta, he was appointed in 1885 head of General Security at the Ministry of the Interior. Dismissed for his Dreyfusard sympathies, he…

Member of the Dayan rabbinical family of Aleppo, which claims Davidic ancestry (connected to a branch of the house of Josias Hassan ben Zakkaï, brother of the exilarch David, c. 917-940). Chief mohel…

French rabbi

Bulgarian rabbi (1881–1978)

rabbi of the Jewish community in Jungbunzlau (1812-1883)

German Orthodox rabbi

American rabbi

Rabbi (1851-1929)

Czech rabbi

German rabbi

American physicist

German rabbi

Isidor Straus (Otterberg, 6 février 1845 – 15 avril 1912), aîné des trois fils, homme d'affaires et membre du Congrès américain, périt lors du naufrage du RMS Titanic avec son épouse Ida (Ida Blun…

Chief Rabbi of France, grandson through his mother of Hirsch Katzenellenbogen, chief rabbi of Upper Alsace; born in Lixheim, in Lorraine, on July 13, 1813, and died in Montmorency in 1888. Entered…

British rabbi

German rabbi

French rabbi

American encyclopedia editor and political activist (1859–1939)

Prolific American playwright of Yiddish theatre, author of more than a hundred plays.

German philologist born on December 14, 1807 in Hamburg and died in that city on August 19, 1888, trained in Bonn and Berlin (doctorate in 1830). Appointed registrar of Hamburg's municipal library in…

German rabbi and historian (1874–1943)

German lawyer and collector of Jewish art, persecuted by the Nazis, suicide (1878-1934)

American rabbi

zoologist (1882-1946)

Physician and German Jewish medical writer, born in Wittenburg (Mecklenburg-Schwerin) in 1804, died in Rostock on March 13, 1867. Doctor of Medicine in 1827, he practiced for forty years in Rostock.…

Russian historian

Rabbi of Rabat, 19th century. Mentioned in 5590 of the Hebrew era (1830). Listed in Malkhei Rabbanan (Yosef Ben Naim, 1931), p. 79-3.

Renowned rabbi and teacher born in Rabat in the first half of the 19th century. Although wealthy, he was exempted from community taxes to devote himself entirely to the study of Torah, through the…

Writer and translator, collection of legends Kol Agadot Yisrael for youth.

Israeli rabbi

Polish journalist, shot in 1941

English rabbi

Italian rabbi

American writer and publisher (1870–1939)

Hasidic master famous for his sumptuous court, founder of the Sadigora dynasty. He advocated a « royal way » of divine service.

Lithuanian rabbi

Israeli newspaper editor (1850–1914)

Hebrew poet and scholar, rector of Tel-Aviv University.

American rabbi and Talmudist ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1915, specialist in medieval rabbinic literature, editor of the responsa of Rashi (Teshuvot Rashi, 1943).

American rabbi

Galician-born American rabbi and cantor (1879-1967), celebrated as the 'father of congregational singing' in synagogues, led a Brooklyn congregation for over 50 years, co-founder of the Cantors…

American rabbi

Lithuanian-born Jewish actor and Broder singer (1848-1887), one of the founding performers recruited by Abraham Goldfaden for the first professional Yiddish theater troupe in Iași, Romania in 1876.…

Grandson of the founder, he led the court of Vizhnitz and was one of its major figures; his writings were published under the title Ahavat Yisrael, an expression that remained attached to his memory.

Russian rabbi, active in Vinnitsa, in Podolia, in the 19th century. He is the author of « Sha'ar Mishpaṭ », novellae in two volumes on the Shulḥan 'Arukh, Ḥoshen Mishpaṭ (Königsberg, 1860), and «…

Russo-Polish rabbi, died in Kutno, in the Warsaw governorate, on 11 July 1893, at an advanced age. Trained at the yeshiva founded around 1835 in Kukhari by R. Solomon Posner, he held various minor…

Polish posek (1821-1893)

Russian-Israeli educator (1869-1927)

French rabbi

American coroner

German rabbi

Rabbi of Fès, 19th century. Died in 5633 of the Hebrew era (1873). Son of Yosef. Recorded in Malkhei Rabbanan (Yosef Ben Naim, 1931), f. 79-2.

German rabbi

Grandson and student of Joseph ben Hayyim Hazan. Appointed to the rabbinical court of Jerusalem in 1842, he then practiced in Rome, Corfu and Alexandria. He was one of the most influential Sephardic…

Born in Manchester into a family of Lithuanian Jewish origin. Brother-in-law and partner of Simon Marks, he co-directed the development of Marks & Spencer. After the death of his son Daniel (age 17),…

Yiddish novelist and poet, author of the novel « Di gas » (The Street).

Israeli politician

Founder of the Mussar movement, which places ethical work at the heart of study. His influence transformed the Lithuanian yeshivot.

Israeli politician

Tunisian rabbi, student of Abraham Hagège. First a dayan (rabbinical judge) in Tunis, he became Chief Rabbi of Tunisia from 1917 until his death in 1921. He ranks among the great decismakers of…

former Chief Rabbi of Rome, converted to Catholicism

American Arctic explorer born on July 1, 1859 in Kalamazoo (Michigan) and died on May 27, 1884, trained at the University of Ann Arbor. Sergeant in the Signal Corps of the American army, he…

German physician born in Berlin in February 1848, doctor of medicine from Berlin in 1870. Settled in the capital, he became adjunct surgeon at the Israelite hospital in 1875 then chief surgeon in…

Rabbi of Alexandria, Egypt, from 1802 to 1827, the year of his death; son of Israel Israel, who had held the rabbinate from 1773 to 1784. Disciple of Jonathan Galante, he presided over an academy in…

German physician born in Stralsund on September 6, 1854, trained at the Universities of Leipzig, Kiel, and Berlin (doctorate in 1877). Entering in 1878 as an assistant at the pathology institute of…

Dutch historian of medicine born in Groningen on March 27, 1822 and died in Amsterdam on January 16, 1883, doctor of medicine from his native city in 1845. Established as a physician in Amsterdam, he…

Dutch genre painter born in Groningen on June 27, 1824. Intended by his mother for the rabbinate, he eventually obtained permission to devote himself to art, first studying in Groningen then, at…

Founder of the Nadvorna Hasidic dynasty, disciple of Tsvi Hirsh of Zhidachov (and of R. Isaac of Radvill). He is credited with the work Sitrei Torah. The dynasty produced numerous branches…

Rabbi of Salé, nineteenth century. Mentioned in 5621 of the Hebrew era (1861). Listed in Malkhei Rabbanan (Yosef Ben Naim, 1931), f. 79-4.

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel

Lithuanian rabbi

British-Australian soldier (1890–1940)

Hungarian politician

Hungarian physician (1889-1974)

Rabbi and poet of Mogador (Essaouira), he was the first to publish in Morocco a collection of Bakachot (liturgical poems). His compilation "Roni Vesimhi" (1900) served as a reference for the…

First Square Rebbe

Founder of Bohush Hasidism

Soviet Yiddish poet trained in Kiev; shot during the Night of the Murdered Poets.

Rabbi and Political activist

Lithuanian rabbi

Romanian translator

Born on July 14, 1858 in Szczawnik, doctoral degree in philosophy from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, he was rabbi of the Jewish community of Heřmanův Městec (Bohemia) from 1908 to 1938.…

Turkish composer

Born in Zembin (governorate of Minsk), he began publishing as an adolescent then settled in Minsk in 1920 where he became editor of Yiddish literary journals (Shtern, Oktyabr). His epic poem «…

Hungarian architect

Hungarian rabbi, poet (1884-1945)

Surinamese linguist

Hungarian rabbi

American film producer (1892–1978)

English actor born in London in 1836 and died in that city on 13 August 1885. Having left young for Australia, he adopted a theatrical career there, performed in Auckland and then in San Francisco…

Graduate in law from Moscow University (1875), he was one of the first Jews admitted to the tsarist judiciary, investigating judge in the Samara region then judge at the Saratov court (1904). After…

Polish rabbi

Rabbi and Russian author, died in Karlin, in the government of Minsk, in 1855, grandson of Baruch of Shklov, mathematician and author, and one of the first and most renowned graduates of the yeshiva…

German Talmudist, great-grandson of Ẓebi Ashkenazi and student of Meshullam Eger, Jacob ben Jacob Moïse of Lissa was ab bet din in Kalisz then in Lissa, before returning to practice in Kalisz. He…

Polish apologist (1824-1896)

Rabbi in Alt-Ofen in the early 19th century, son of Mordekhaï ben Abraham Benet. He is the author of the « Toledot Mordekhaï Benet » (Alt-Ofen, 1832), whose first part retraces the biography of his…

Israeli rabbi

American Jewish entrepreneur, philanthropist and diplomat, founder of the American Oil Company (Amoco) and negotiator of the Blaustein-Ben-Gurion agreement.

Sole rabbi of the Livornese synagogue in Tunis and figure of the « grana » community (Livornese Jews). Veteran of Tunisian Zionism, he delivered a notable speech on Jewish revival in Palestine. His…

Maskil of Lviv. With his brother-in-law A. M. Mohr, he published the critical journal "Ha-Ro'eh u-Mevakker Sifrei Meḥabberei Zemannenu" (1838–39) and then the periodical "Yerushalayim" (1844–45); he…

Master ceramicist of Tunis (workshop in the Place des Potiers, from approximately 1880; tiles adorning Tunis, Sidi Bou Saïd, La Marsa). Concurrently a man of letters: from 1878 he pursued for more…

Poet, essayist and Hebrew literary critic, Israel Prize laureate 1957.

(1808–1887)

Born on August 20, 1896 in Lublin, emigrated to the United States in 1914. With A. Glanz-Leyeles and N. B. Minkoff, he founded in 1920 the introspectionist movement (In Zikh) and its journal. After…

German rabbi

Rabbi

Hasidic master renowned for his powers of clairvoyance, he made Lublin a great center of Polish Hasidism. He trained many disciples who became rebbes.

Romanian rabbi

Dutch Jewish writer and journalist

American rabbi

Chief Rabbi of France, resistance fighter

לחיים 2

Jacob Lasry, wealthy merchant (cattle, grain), from a family that came from Morocco (via Gibraltar) after the recapture of Oran in the late 18th century, became under French conquest an important…

German rabbi, lexicographer and orientalist (1819–1892)

Jewish-American historian (1888–1940)

Yiddish editor, poet and humorist born in Odessa, emigrated to the United States in 1893. He took over and long directed the satirical weekly Der Groyser Kundes (« The Grand Prankster »), which he…

Russian rabbi (1859–1924)

former chief rabbi of HaYeshuv

Polish rabbi

Rabbi

Jurist and then writer. After publishing collections of verse (Das Ufer, 1913; Erschütterung, 1920), he turned to literature when Nazism ended his legal career in 1933. His major work, the…

American rabbi

German publisher

Romanian Meschulach (1822–1885)

Rabbi

American banker and philanthropist.

German rabbi

Poet and short-story writer, biblical style in service of modern sensibility.

Dutch economist of Jewish origin, born in Amsterdam. Pioneer of the theory of long economic cycles (~40–60 years), which he described as early as 1913 under the pseudonym « J. Fedder », preceding…

Scholar of midrashic and talmudic literature, ordained at the Rabbiner-Seminar in Berlin. Emigrated to New York in 1903 for the Jewish Encyclopedia (260 articles), professor of Talmud at Hebrew Union…

German painter of landscapes and portraits born in Berlin on April 25, 1811 and died in the same city on October 20, 1882, Julius Jacob studied under Wach at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf…

American physician born on May 6, 1830 near Minden, in Westphalia, trained at the universities of Greifswald, Göttingen and Bonn, Abraham Jacobi was imprisoned in Berlin and Cologne for high treason,…

German philologist born in Tütz, in West Prussia, in 1815, and died in Berlin in 1864, Heinrich Otto Jacobi studied at the University of Berlin, received an honorary doctorate from that of Königsberg…

German mathematician born on December 10, 1804 in Potsdam and died on February 18, 1851 in Berlin, brother of Moritz Hermann Jacobi, Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi became, after converting to Christianity…

German physicist born on September 21, 1801, in Potsdam, and died on March 10, 1874, in Saint Petersburg, Moritz Hermann Jacobi, first an architect in Königsberg, was appointed in 1835 professor of…

American rabbi of English Sephardic descent, born in Kingston, Jamaica, on September 24, 1834, and died in Philadelphia on July 14, 1884, George Jacobs emigrated to the United States in 1854, served…

American rabbi born in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 22, 1827, and died in New York on September 12, 1893, Henry S. Jacobs studied under the direction of Reverend N. Nathan in Kingston before joining…

Judge at the Supreme Court of the Cape of Good Hope, born in 1830 and died in London on June 15, 1883, Siméon Jacobs became a lawyer at the Inner Temple in November 1852, then emigrated to the Cape…

German physician and hygienist born in Berlin on September 30, 1868, doctor of medicine from the universities of Berlin and Freiburg (1891), Paul Jacobsohn was from 1892 to 1894 assistant physician…

German dramatist born on November 10, 1833 in Groß Strehlitz, Silesia, doctor of medicine from Berlin (1859) where he established himself as a physician, Eduard Jacobson wrote as early as 1856, still…

German physician born on October 27, 1826 in Königsberg, East Prussia, and died on December 10, 1890 in Berlin, doctor of medicine in 1847, Heinrich Jacobson established himself as a physician in…

German jurist and author in ecclesiastical law, born in Marienwerder on June 8, 1804, and died in Königsberg on March 19, 1868, Heinrich Friedrich Jacobson became a privat-docent there and then…

American surgeon born in Syracuse, New York State, on June 25, 1857, Nathan Jacobson, graduate of Syracuse University and trained at the University of Vienna, became professor of clinical surgery…

German architect born in Stargard, in Pomerania, on September 17, 1839, Johann Eduard Jacobsthal studied at the academy of architecture in Berlin and then, after lengthy travels in Greece and Asia…

German physician and politician born in Königsberg on May 1, 1805 and died in the same city on March 6, 1877, Johann Jacoby established himself as a physician from 1830 before entering politics with…

German engraver born on June 7, 1828 in Havelberg, Brandenburg, student of engraver Mandel in Berlin, where he established himself; Louis Jacoby stayed in Paris in 1855, in Spain in 1856, then in…

Native of Cairo and prosperous businessman, pioneer of education in Jewish schools in Egypt, he explored between 1909 and 1911 the synagogues of Fostat and the cemetery of Bassatine to gather…

Born in Paris, son of antique dealer Léon Helft; he opens a gallery on rue de Ponthieu with his father and brother Yvon, associated with that of his brother-in-law Paul Rosenberg (Rosenberg & Helft,…

The most important Dutch dealer of old master paintings of the interwar period. He took over the family gallery in Amsterdam and internationalized it. Fleeing the Nazi invasion in May 1940, he died…

French jurist and political figure

American rabbi

Doctor of Law, editor-in-chief of « La République » (organ of the Radical Party) from 1929, vice-president then secretary general of the Radical Party, close to its left wing (Pierre Cot, Mendès…

Franco-German composer of the 19th century

Ottoman military surgeon born in 1850 in Salonika and died in that city on August 25, 1903. Jacques Pasha, son of a physician, graduated from the Constantinople medical school in 1874 before becoming…

German bookseller.

French mathematician, he proved in 1896 (independently of Charles-Jean de La Vallée Poussin) the prime number theorem. His name remains attached to Hadamard matrices and several theorems of analysis.…

French rabbi

Austrian deputy born in Vienna on February 24, 1831 and died by suicide on January 25, 1894, doctor of law from Vienna (1856), Heinrich Jacques established himself as a lawyer in 1859 after directing…

German physician born in Liegnitz on 10 September 1863, doctor of medicine from Breslau (1886), Josef Jadassohn was from 1887 to 1892 assistant physician at the dermatological hospital of Breslau…

German composer and music pedagogue born in Breslau on August 13, 1831, trained on piano with Hesse and on violin with Lüstner before studying with Liszt in Weimar, Salomon Jadassohn established…

(1818–1885)

rabbi

Jewish student in Krakow engaged in Jewish socialist organizations (in the orbit of Henryk Grossmann), he became one of the historians of the early Jewish workers' movement in Galicia. His pioneering…

Bookseller and publisher, father of Julius, Sigmund and Albert; originator of the publishing house that would bear the name Bensheimer.

Jewish rabbi, biographer and historian (1866–1937)

Austrian architect

German Jewish theologian, philosopher of religion (1845-1919)

Turkish-German rabbi (1895–1945)

German journalist and author

Born in Fürth in a modest Jewish family of merchants, he became one of the most widely read and translated German novelists of the interwar period. Friend of Rainer Maria Rilke and Thomas Mann. His…

(1857–1940)

Polish biochemist, co-discoverer of the glycolysis pathway known as the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas pathway. Head of the Institute of Medical Chemistry at the University of Lwów (1920–1941). Arrested by…

American journalist born in Suwałki, Russian Poland, in 1835, and died in New York on 18 August 1897, Mordekhaï Jalomstein, versed in talmudic and neo-Hebrew literature, settled in New York in 1871…

Born in Aleppo into the Italian merchant family Picciotto, emigrated to London as a child. Journalist at the « Jewish Chronicle », he is the author of the first popular work on the history of Jews in…

German physicist

Head of the family house from 1899; at its peak in 1913, Speyer & Co. was the third American investment bank. Philanthropist, he closed the New York firm himself in 1939 rather than allow his name to…

British mathematician

German-American rabbi

Son of Solomon Loeb (co-founder of the Kuhn, Loeb & Co. bank), of German Jewish descent. Retired from business in 1901 for reasons of health, he devoted himself to classical scholarship and…

Latvian Colombian businessman (1838-1921)

English actor born in Birmingham in 1839 and died in London on October 3, 1893, David James made his debut as a child in the ballet of the Princess' Theatre under the direction of Charles Kean,…

Hungarian-German Jewish academic and art collector and emigrant (1878-1957)

Russian chess player born on May 25, 1868 in Russian Poland, David Janowski did not take to the game seriously until 1886, the year he settled in Paris, a city where he was still residing in 1904. He…

Austrian actor born in Budapest on August 24, 1866, Josef Jarno took the stage despite commercial training, debuting in 1885 in Ischl, where he was subsequently engaged each summer; he played in…

German economist and statistician born 13 September 1856 at Nakel, doctor of philosophy (1878) after studies at Breslau, Berlin, and Göttingen. Ignaz Jastrow became privatdozent of social economics…

American psychologist born on January 30, 1863 in Warsaw, Poland, Joseph Jastrow accompanied his father, Dr. Marcus Jastrow, to the United States in 1866 and was educated in Philadelphia. A graduate…

French physician and deputy born on May 5, 1839 in Paris, son of Léopold Javal, Émile Javal, doctor of medicine (1868), specialized in ophthalmology, became an authority on strabismus and was…