Bible Encyclopedias
Philippson

• G. Philippson, Geschichte der Herzoglichen Franzschule in Dessau, Dessau, 1869.

Ludwig Philippson:

Rabbi and author; born Dec. 28, 1811, at Dessau; died Dec. 29, 1889, at Bonn; son of Moses PHILIPPSON. He was educated at the gymnasium of Halle and at the University of Berlin, and maintained himself by tutoring and by doing literary work. He published his first effort, a translation of the prophets Hosea, Joel, Obadiah, and Nahum, when but fifteen years old.

In 1830 he translated and annotated the works of two Judæo-Greek poets of Alexandria. A philological treatise on medical terms (Hyle Anthropine, 1831, etc.) which followed revealed his qualities as a scholar, and his versatility was emphasized by the publication in 1832 of a vindication of Spinoza.

When twenty-two years old he was called as preacher by the Jewish congregation of Magdeburg and remained in that city for twenty-eight years. In order to promote the interests of Judaism he founded the ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG DES JUDENTHUMS in 1837 and edited that journal until his death. Two years later (1839) he began the annotated German translation of the Old Testament, which he completed in 1853. This translation, with a commentary in German, was issued in several editions, one being illustrated with designs by Gustave Doré. In 1847 he published "Die Entwickelung der Religiösen Idee im Judenthum, Christenthum und Islam," which was followed by "Die Religion der Gesellschaft," in 1848. Both of these works were translated into several languages.

Ludwig Philippson.

Philippson's restless energy led him to enter the political arena, and in the stirring events of 1848 he took an active part. His political views he expressed in the following works: "Stimmen und Stimmungen aus der Zeit" (1849); "Resultate in der Weltgeschichte" (1860); and "Weltbewegende Fragen" (1868-69). He advocated moderate liberalism and became one of the leaders of the Social Reform party in Saxony. In 1855 he founded the Institut zur Förderung der Israelitischen Literatur, which during the eighteen years it existed published many interesting contributions to Jewish literature.

Between the years 1861 and 1865 Philippson issued his religious compendiums "Israelitische Religionslehre" and "Israelitisches Gebetbuch" (2d ed. 1864). In 1862, suffering from an affliction that had rendered him almost blind, he resigned his charge at Magdeburg and retired to Bonn. In 1866 he published "Haben die Juden Wirklich Jesum Gekreuzigt?"

Philippson took part in municipal and educational affairs. He was elected to the city council of Magdeburg, and was president of the Saxon Teachers' Association. That he was a prolific and versatile writer is shown by the number and character of the works he published. Among those not already mentioned above are: "Saron," a collection of poems (1843); "Sepphoris und Rom" (1866); "Jacob Tirado" (1867); "Gedenkbuch an den Deutsch-Französiche Krieg" (1871); "An den Strömen" (1872-73); the confirmation-gift "Rath des Heils" (1882); and a number of dramatic productions such as "Esterka," "Jojachin," and "Die Entthronten."

Martin Philippson:

Historian; born June 27, 1846, at Magdeburg; eldest son of Ludwig PHILIPPSON. In 1862 he went with his parents to Bonn, and studied history at the universities there and at Berlin from 1863 to 1866, devoting himself especially to work under Sybel and Ranke. He taught at the Jewish normal school of Berlin 1868-70, and then served in the Franco-Prussian war as a volunteer. In 1871 he established himself as a lecturer at the University of Bonn, and was appointed assistant professor in 1875. He was later chosen as full professor by various faculties, but the Emperor William I. was unwilling to see a Jew in the chair of modern history at the university, and refused to sanction the appointment. Philippson thereupon accepted the position of professor at the University of Brussels in the fall of 1878. As dean of this university he came into conflict with the anti-German and radical-socialistic party among the students, resigning his office in consequence in 1891. Since that time he has lived at Berlin, devoting a large part of his time to the promotion of the interests of German Judaism. He is executive chairman of the Deutsch-Israelitische Gemeindebund, as well as of the Verein zur Förderung der Wissenschaft des Judenthums, which was founded largely through his efforts in 1902, and of the Verband der Deutschen Juden. He held the office of vice-chairman of the board of trustees of the Lehranstalt für die Wissenschaft des Judenthums until 1904.

Philippson is author of "Geschichte Heinrichs des Löwen" (Leipsic, 1868); "Heinrich IV. und Philipp III.: Die Begründung des Französischen Uebergewichtes in Europa" (Berlin, 1871-76); "Das Zeitalter Ludwigs XIV." (2d ed. ib. 1888); "Geschichte des Preussischen Staatswesens vom Tode Friedrichs des Grossen bis zu den Freiheitskriegen" (Leipsic, 1880-82); "Westeuropa im Zeitalter von Philipp II., Elisabeth, und Heinrich IV." (ib. 1883; this and the preceding work in Oncken's "Allgem. Gesch. in Einzeldarstellungen"); "Histoire de la Contre-Réforme Religieuse" (Brussels, 1884); "Geschichte der Neueren Zeit" (Berlin, 1886-89); "Histoire du Règne de Marie Stuart" (Paris, 1891-92); "Friedrich III. als Kronprinz und Kaiser" (Berlin, 1894); "Ein Ministerium Unter Philipp II.: Kardinal Granvella am Spanischen Hofe" (ib. 1895); "Der Grosse Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg" (ib. 1897-1903); "Max von Forckenbeck: Ein Lebensbild"(Dresden and Leipsic, 1898); "Kaiser Friedrich III." (Berlin, 1900).

Moritz Philippson:

Son of Franz Philippson; born June 12, 1877; studied at the universities of Brussels and Berlin, and the marine laboratories at Naples and in Japan, and was then appointed lecturer on zoology at the University of Brussels. He has published several zoological works together with the results of his biological experiments.

Moses Philippson:

German writer, educationist, and publisher; born at Sandersleben May 9, 1775; died at Dessau April 20, 1814; called also Moses Arnswalde, being the son of the Talmudist Philipp Moses of Arnswalde. Before attaining his twelfth year he attended the yeshibah of Halberstadt, and later continued his Talmudic studies at Brunswick and Frankfort-on-the-Oder. In the latter city he learned German, and studied Hebrew grammar, arithmetic, and geography. A few years later he went to Bayreuth as tutor and became acquainted with Emanuel Osmund and Jean Paul. His association with Osmund had a marked influence on his scholarly development. Four years later he went as tutor to Burgkunstadt, a neighboring town, where he remained for five years returning then for a short time to Bayreuth. In 1799 he was called to the newly founded Freischule of Dessau as teacher of religion and Hebrew, and frequently delivered public lectures in that capacity. There he began his literary activity and founded a Hebrew printing establishment. Together with his colleagues J. Wolf, G. Salomon, and J. Neumann, he translated and annotated the twelve Minor Prophets, taking as his portion of the work the books of Joel, Hosea, and Habakkuk. The entire collection appeared under the title "Minḥah Ṭehorah" (Dessau, 1805; incorporated in the edition of the Bible published at Prague, 1835). Encouraged by the favorable reception of the work, he annotated the Book of Daniel, translated by J. Wolf (ib. 1808), and issued a manual and reader for the young entitled "Modah Libne Binah, oder Kinderfreund und Lehrer" (ib. 1808-11; in Dutch, Amsterdam, 1817; 2d ed. Leipsic, 1823). He edited also several volumes of the new "Sammler" (1811), which contained poems written by him over the initials = Moses b. Uri.

Philippson, who printed the writings of his friends J. Wolf, G. Salomon, and others in addition to his own, now gave up teaching for the book-trade, and devoted his leisure moments to the preparation of a Hebrew-German and German-Hebrew dictionary, primarily for the use of schools, which he intended to have printed at Prague, but which remained unpublished.

He has been frequently, but erroneously, identified by Fürst and others with another Moses Philippson, a bookkeeper, and a friend of Moses Mendelssohn, and who had received a philosophical training, was the author of "Das Leben Benedict von Spinoza's" (Brunswick, 1790), and who published a "Gutachten über die Verbesserung des Judeneides" (Neustrelitz, 1797) at the request of the royal electoral chancellery of justice at Hanover.

Phoebus Philippson:

German author and physician; born at Dessau July 26, 1807; died at Klötze, in the Altmark, April 1, 1870; son of Moses Philippson, and elder brother of Ludwig Philippson.

Phoebus was compelled to aid in supporting the family, at an early age. This he did by giving private lessons, studying meanwhile mainly the best treatises on pedagogics. In 1825 he succeeded in entering the University of Halle to study medicine, completing the course in 1828. He started in Magdeburg but was unable to compete with the old practitioners, and therefore removed to Klötze, where he remained until his death.

Philippson's researches in connection with the cholera epidemic led to his first medical writings: "Anweisung zur Erkenntniss, Verhütung, und Thätigen Hilfsleistung in Betreff der Asiatischen Cholera," Magdeburg, 1831; "Beiträge zu den Untersuchungen über den Cholera Morbus," ib. 1832; and "Die Sommerkrankheiten im Jahre 1831," Berlin, 1832. In the last-named year he also produced "Podalirius Zwanglose Hefte als Beiträge zur Kritik der Aeltern und Neuern Arzneikunde" and "Propädeutik und Encyclopädie der Medicin," Magdeburg, 1832. In 1835 he published "Hygiea Blätter für Freunde der Gesundheit und des Familienglücks" (Magdeburg) and in 1864 his treatise "Ueber die Gesichtslagen des Kindes bei der Geburt und die Anwendung der Kopfzange bei Demselben."

As early as 1823 Philippson edited an enlarged and revised edition of his father's educational works (Leipsic). When his brother Ludwig founded (1834) the "Israelitische Predigt- und Schulmagazin," he contributed a historical study, "Die Vertreibung der Juden aus Spanien und Portugal," to its pages. Then when the "Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums" was established he wrote for it many important sketches, including a Jewish novel "Die Marannen," later published in book form (1855), and translated into Hebrew and other modern languages. Philippson also provided the translation of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings for the German Bible issued by his brother. In 1859 his novel "Der Unbekannte Rabbi" was published, and an English version of it appeared in New York.