Berkowitz, Henry:

By: Joseph Jacobs , Goodman Lipkind

Russian-English educator; born at Warsaw in 1816; died in Gravesend April 5, 1891. He came to London in 1841, and attracting the notice of Chief Rabbi Adler, he was made a member of the latter's household. He afterward opened a school at Gravesend, and by his energy and zeal gradually obtained for it an established position and reputation. Among his scholars were numbered some of the most prominent men in the community. Berkowitz was held in high esteem in non-Jewish circles in Gravesend, made friends among all classes and creeds, and local honors were bestowed on him in abundance, among them that of justice of the peace, until, in 1887, he was elected mayor of Gravesend. He was concerned in almost every philanthropic movement of the town.