Moses Mendelssohn
6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786
Moses Mendelssohn was a German-Jewish philosopher and a central figure of the Enlightenment, often called the father of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment). He argued for religious tolerance and the compatibility of Judaism with reason, and his German translation of the Pentateuch helped open German culture to Jewish readers.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Moses Mendelssohn.
- Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787) Overlapped 57 years →
- Edmund Burke (1729–1797) Overlapped 57 years →
- Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707–1788) Overlapped 57 years →
- James Lind (1716–1794) Overlapped 57 years →
- John Hunter (1728–1793) Overlapped 57 years →
- John Wesley (1703–1791) Overlapped 57 years →
Life events
Moses Mendelssohn was born in Dessau, Anhalt, the son of a Torah scribe.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAs a teenager he followed his teacher, Rabbi David Fraenkel, to Berlin, where he studied languages, mathematics, and philosophy while living in poverty.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe was hired by the silk merchant Isaac Bernhard as a tutor and later became bookkeeper and eventually a partner in the firm, which supported his scholarly life.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgMendelssohn married Fromet Guggenheim of Hamburg; the couple had several children, including Abraham, father of composer Felix Mendelssohn.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHis essay on evidence in metaphysical sciences won the Prussian Royal Academy's prize, placing ahead of an entry by Immanuel Kant.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgModeled on Plato's dialogue, Phaedon became one of the most widely read philosophical works of its time and earned him the epithet 'the German Socrates'.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThe Swiss theologian Lavater publicly pressed Mendelssohn to refute Christianity or convert, drawing him reluctantly into public religious controversy.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHis translation of the Torah into German, printed in Hebrew characters with a Hebrew commentary, became a foundational text of the Haskalah.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgIn Jerusalem he argued for freedom of conscience and the separation of church and state while defending Judaism as a religion of reason.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgMendelssohn died in Berlin after a short illness, reportedly aggravated by his efforts in the pantheism controversy over his friend Lessing's legacy.
Source: en.wikipedia.org