DEUTSCH, GOTTHARD

DEUTSCH, GOTTHARD (1859–1921), historian and theologian. Deutsch was born in Dolné Kounice (Kanitz), Moravia. He studied at the Breslau Jewish Theological Seminary and at Vienna University, and was ordained by Isaac Hirsch *Weiss. Deutsch first served as teacher of religion at Bruenn and as rabbi in Most (Bruex, Bohemia). In 1891 he accepted a position as professor of Jewish history and philosophy at Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, where he became one of the leading spokesmen of Reform Judaism. Deutsch succeeded Isaac Meyer Wise as editor of the German-American monthly Deborah in 1901, and also contributed articles in English and German to several Jewish and general periodicals. Deutsch was known for his sympathies toward Orthodoxy despite his intellectual disagreement. He prayed at an Orthodox synagogue in Cincinnati. His German roots and appreciation of things German proved problematic at the beginning of World War i As anti-German sentiment spread throughout the United States there was a move afoot to dismiss him from the huc faculty. He belonged to the moderates in the Reform movement, and although not a Zionist he greatly sympathized with many aspects of Zionism. He was editor of the modern Jewish history division of the Jewish Encyclopedia. Deutsch, while in many ways an original historian who devoted meticulous attention to detail and motivations, did not write a major account of Jewish history, and most of his published work is in the form of essays and lectures. He wrote Scrolls, Essays on Jewish History and Literature (3 vols., 1917–20), Memorable Dates of Jewish History (1904), and History of the Jews (1904). Deutsch wrote a German novel, Unloesbare Fesseln (1903), and a historical play in English, Israel Bruna (1908). A son of Deutsch was hermann bacher deutsch (1889–1970), writer and journalist.

bibliography:

Hebrew Union College Monthly, 8 (1922), 117–55; G.A. Dobbert, in: aja, 20 (1968), 129–55; M. Raisin, Great Jews I Have Known (1952), 143–52; Bloch, in: Sefer ha-Shanah li-Yhudei Amerikah, 6 (1942), 451–61. add. bibliography: M.A. Cohen, "History," in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion at 100 (1976); K.M. Olitzsky, L.J. Sussman, and M.H. Stern (eds.), Reform Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook (1993).