German merchant and traveler; born at Hamburg Dec. 5, 1832; died Sept. 19, 1903; brother of Jules Oppert. He chose a mercantile career, and went in 1851 to Hongkong; later he founded a business at Shanghai; in 1866 and 1868 he traveled through Korea. He then returned to Hamburg, where he lived as a merchant.
Oppert has written, from his own notes and from the notes of the missionary Féron, a description of his experiences in the "hermit kingdom," and of the country and its people, under the title "A Forbidden Land," London, 1879 (German transl. "Ein Verschlossenes Land," Leipsic, 1880). He is also the author of "Ostasiatische Wanderungen," Leipsic, 1898; and "Erinnerungen eines Japanesen," ib. 1898.
Categories: [Jewish encyclopedia 1906]