Levi, Abraham

German traveler; born at Horn, in the principality of Lippe, in 1702; died at Amsterdam Feb. 1, 1785. At the age of five he was sent to Brog, near Lemgo, for the sake of his studies, and he stayed there till 1714, when he returned home. He then acquired a passion for traveling, and in 1719, when only seventeen years old, he definitely left the parental home in order to execute his plan.

Levi traveled through Germany, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, Austria, and the whole of Italy. Full of youthful ardor, he did not leave unnoticed the most trivial circumstance. He mentions among other things the synagogues of Frankfort, and the riches of his relative Samson Wertheimer of Vienna. He wrote an account of his travels in Judæo-German (published by Roest in "Isr. Letterbode"), adding a Hebrew poem describing ten of the most noteworthy events and giving an acrostic on his name. The poem is followed by explanatory notes, also in Hebrew. Levi's narrative is interesting in that it gives statistics and customs of the Jews in small localities not mentioned by other historians or travelers.

Bibliography:

  * Roest, in Isr. Letterbode, x. 148 et seq.



S. S. M. Sel.