Jacob, Israel

German banker and philanthropist; born April 14, 1729, at Halberstadt; died Nov. 25, 1803. He was widely respected for his philanthropy, which he did not confine to his own coreligionists. He was court agent to the Duke of Brunswick and the Margrave of Baden. Owing to his efforts the Jews' body-tax was repealed in the state of Baden. He also took a prominent part in the conferences held in Berlin and Spandau relating to the apportioning of the Jews' tax among the Prussian communities.

Bibliography:

  * Karl Witte, Israel oder der Edle Jude, Magdeburg and Leipsic, 1804;
  * Auerbach, Gesch. der Israelitischen Gemeinde Halberstadt, 1866, pp. 137 et seq.;
  * E. Philippson, Israel Jacob, in Jahresbericht der Jacobsonschule, 1903;
  * A. Lewinsky, in Allg. Zeit. des Jud. 1903, pp. 557 et seq.



S. R. H. K.