Mendelsohn, Frankfurt Moses

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MENDELSOHN, FRANKFURT MOSES

MENDELSOHN, FRANKFURT MOSES (Moses ben Mendel Frankfurt ; 1782–1861), Hebrew scholar and writer. Born in Hamburg, he received a traditional education but, under the influence of N.H. *Wessely, became attracted to Haskalah. He engaged mainly in literary work, writing in both German and in Hebrew. His main work is Penei Tevel (published posthumously in Amsterdam in 1872), a collection of poetry and prose in the style of the maqāmāt of Al-*Ḥarizi. The book contains satire, polemics, epic poems on biblical themes, and a history of the Hebrew Haskalah movement at the turn of the 18th century. He was an uncle of S.R. *Hirsch.

bibliography:

E. Duckesz, Ḥakhmei Ahav (1908), 120–1; G. Kressel, Ivrit ba-Ma'arav (1941), 36–41; Ḥ.N. Shapira, Toledot ha-Sifrut ha-Ivrit ha-Ḥadashah (19672), 503–10.

[Getzel Kressel]

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