Hyman Hurwitz (1770–1844) was a learned Jew who became first professor of Hebrew at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. He was born in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, Poland in 1770, came to England about 1797 and conducted a private academy for Jews at Highgate, where he established a close friendship with

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

and corresponded with him. Coleridge once described Hurwitz as "the first Hebrew and Rabbinical Scholar in the Kingdom". In 1828, on Coleridge's recommendation, he was elected professor of the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and literature at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. His inaugural lecture was published. He died on 18 July 1844. Hurwitz was buried in the Brady Street Cemetery near

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

in London's East End.

Works

* ''Vindiciae Hebraicae, being a Defence of the Hebrew Scriptures as a Vehicle of Revealed Religion, in Refutation of J. Bellamy,'' 1820. * ''Hebrew Tales from the Writings of the Hebrew Sages'' 1826. * ''Elements of the Hebrew Language,'' 1829; 4th edition, 1848. * ''The Etymology and Syntax of the Hebrew Language,'' 1831; a first part on orthography appeared in 1807. * ''A Grammar of the Hebrew Language,'' 2 parts; 2nd edition, enlarged, 1835. Hurwitz also wrote many Hebrew hymns, odes, elegies, and dirges. A Hebrew dirge, "chaunted in the Great Synagogue, Aldgate, on the day of the Funeral of Princess Charlotte" was published in 1817, with an English translation in verse by Coleridge. ''The Knell,'' another Hebrew elegy by Hurwitz on George III of the United Kingdom, appeared in an English translation by W. Smith at Thurso in 1827.

References

External links

Hurwitz's inaugural lecture, on Google Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurwitz, Hyman 1770 births 1844 deaths Etymologists Academics of University College London Burials at Brady Street Cemetery Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom 18th-century Polish Jews British Jewish writers British Hebraists