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Isaac D'Israeli (11 May 1766 – 19 January 1848) was a British writer, scholar and the father of
British prime minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...
Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...
. He is best known for his essays and his associations with other men of letters.


Life and career

Isaac was born in Enfield, Middlesex, England, the only child of Benjamin D'Israeli, a
Sephardic Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
merchant who had immigrated from
Cento Cento (; Bolognese dialect, Northern Bolognese: ; Bolognese dialect, City Bolognese: ; Bolognese dialect, Centese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. History The name Cento is a reference to the centur ...
, Italy, in 1748, and his second wife, Sarah Syprut de Gabay Villa Real. Isaac received much of his education in
Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
. At the age of 16, he began his literary career with some verses addressed to
Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
. He became a frequent guest at the table of the publisher John Murray and became one of the noted
bibliophiles A bookworm or bibliophile is an individual who loves and frequently reads or collects books. Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Bibliophiles may have large, specialized book collections. They may highly value old editions, au ...
of the time. In 1797 D'Israeli published ''Vaurien'', a romantic novel set in radical circles following the French Revolution. Conservative commentators praised the book for its mockery of radicals in England and depiction of Vaurien, who has come from France to foment revolution. Yet they were perturbed by his depiction of a prostitute, who is kindly and was forced into prostitution to feed her family after her husband was ruined by a litigious neighbour for stealing an apple. Moreover, they were shocked by a chapter in which Disraeli launched a staunch defence of the Jewish community condemning the way Jews were treated in England. On 10 February 1802, D'Israeli married Maria Basevi, who came from another London merchant family of Italian-Jewish descent. The marriage was a happy one, producing five children: Sarah ("Sa"; 1802–1859);
Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...
("Ben" or "Dizzy"; 1804–1881); Naphtali (b. 1807, died in infancy); Raphael ("Ralph"; 1809–1898); and Jacobus ("James" or "Jem"; 1813–1868). The children were named according to Jewish customs and the boys were all circumcised. Religiously, however, Isaac D'Israeli appears to have set aside his Jewish beliefs. In the midst of an eight-year dispute with the
Bevis Marks Synagogue Bevis Marks Synagogue, officially Qahal Kadosh Sha'ar ha-Shamayim (), is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, Jewish congregation and synagogue, located off Bevis Marks, Aldgate, in the City of London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congr ...
and on the advice of his friend, historian
Sharon Turner Sharon Turner (24 September 1768 – 13 February 1847) was an English historian. Life Turner was born in Pentonville, the eldest son of William and Ann Turner of Yorkshire, who had settled in London upon marrying. He left school at fifteen to ...
, all his children were baptised into the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
in 1817. In 1833 he published a severely critical analysis of contemporary
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
, ''The Genius of Judaism''. He himself did not receive baptism, however, and never indicated any desire to exchange Judaism for Christianity. He did attend the inauguration ceremonies of the Reform Synagogue at Burton Street, London. He penned a handful of English adaptations of traditional tales from the Middle East, wrote a few historical biographies, and published a number of poems. His most popular work was a collection of essays entitled ''Curiosities of Literature''. The work contained myriad anecdotes about historical persons and events, unusual books, and the habits of book-collectors. The work was very popular and sold widely in the 19th century, reaching its eleventh edition (the last to be revised by the author) in 1839. It was still in print when the ''
Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
'' entry was written in 1911. His book ''The Life and Reign of Charles I'' (1828) resulted in his being awarded the degree of D.C.L. from the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. In 1841, he became blind and, though he underwent an operation, his sight was not restored. He continued writing with his daughter as his
amanuensis An amanuensis ( ) ( ) or scribe is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In some aca ...
. In this way he produced ''Amenities of Literature'' (1841) and completed the revision of his work on Charles I. He died of
influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...
at age 81, at his home, Bradenham House, in
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
, less than a year after the death of his wife in the spring of 1847. D'Israeli's daughter-in-law, the wife of his eldest son, Benjamin, erected a monument to him in June 1862 following his death. It stands on a hill near
Hughenden Manor Hughenden Manor, Hughenden Valley, Hughenden, Buckinghamshire, England, is a Victorian architecture, Victorian mansion, with earlier origins, that served as the country house of the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. I ...
, the Disraelis' country house in Buckinghamshire.


Works


Fiction

*''Mejnoun and Leila the Arabian Petrarch and Laura'' (1797) *''Love and Humility'' (1797) *''The Lovers'' (1797) *''Vaurien: or, Sketches of the Times Exhibiting Views of the Philosophies, Religions, Politics, Literature and the Manners of the Age'' (1797) *''The Daughter'' (1801) *''Flim-Flams! or the Life and Errors of My Uncle and the Amours of My Aunt'' (1805–1856) *''Despotism or the Fall of the Jesuits'' (1811)


Major non-fiction

*''Curiosities of Literature'', Volumes I, II, III (originally published in 5 volumes, 1791–1823) *''A Dissertation on Anecdotes'' (1793) *'' An Essay on the Literary Character'' (1795) *''Miscellanies; or, Literary Recreations'' (1796) *''Romances'' (1799) *'' Calamities of Authors'' (1812–1813) *''Quarrels of Authors'', Volumes I, II, III (1814) *'' Commentaries on the Life and Reign of Charles the First, King of England'' (originally published in 5 volumes, 1828-1831) *'' The Genius of Judaism'' (1833)
''Miscellanies of Literature''
(1840) *'' Amenities of Literature'' (1841)


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Disraeli, Isaac 1766 births 1848 deaths 19th-century English non-fiction writers 19th-century British Sephardi Jews English bibliophiles English blind people Deaths from influenza in the United Kingdom Jewish English writers English male non-fiction writers English non-fiction writers English people of Italian-Jewish descent English Sephardi Jews People from Enfield, London Parents of prime ministers of the United Kingdom 18th-century English novelists 19th-century English novelists English male novelists