Heimann (Hayyim) Michael (April 12, 1792 – June 10, 1846) was a

Hebrew 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 ...

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

born at

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. He showed great acuteness of mind in early childhood, had a phenomenal memory, and was an indefatigable student. He studied Talmudics and received private instruction in all the branches of a regular school education. He was a born

bibliophile Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books. Profile The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...

, and began to collect valuable works when still a boy of twelve. With his progress in

Hebrew literature Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews. Hebrew literature was pr ...

his love for books increased also, the result of which was his magnificent library of 862 manuscripts and 5,471 printed works, covering all branches of Hebrew literature. There were few books in his collection which he had not read, and he undertook the preparation of a full catalog of it. As far as he accomplished this task, it was the foundation of the ''Ozerot Hayyim, Katalog der Michael'schen Bibliothek'', Hamburg, 1848. Michael took an interest not only in

Jewish literature Jewish literature includes works written by Jews on Jewish themes, literary works written in Jewish languages on various themes, and literary works in any language written by Jewish writers. Ancient Jewish literature includes Biblical literature ...

, but in all the intellectual movements of the day, as is shown by the large number of contemporary books and leaflets found in his library. He never wrote directly for publication, but many scholars applied to him for information, and this he never withheld. His correspondence with

Leopold Dukes Leopold Dukes ( hu, Dukes Lipót; 17 January 1810, Pozsony – 3 August 1891, Vienna) was a Hungarian critic of Jewish literature. Biography Dukes spent about 20 years in England, and from his researches in the Bodleian Library and the Brit ...

Franz Delitzsch Franz Delitzsch (23 February 1813, in Leipzig – 4 March 1890, in Leipzig) was a German Lutheran theologian and Hebraist. Delitzsch wrote many commentaries on books of the Bible, Jewish antiquities, Biblical psychology, as well as a history of J ...

Wolf Heidenheim Benjamin Wolf ben Samson Heidenheim (; 1757 – February 23, 1832) was a German exegete and grammarian. Biography Early life Born at Heidenheim, at an early age Heidenheim was sent to Fürth, where he studied Talmud under Joseph Steinhardt (auth ...

J.L. Rapoport Solomon Judah Löb HaKohen Rapoport ( he, שלמה יהודה כהן רפאפורט; June 1, 1786 – October 15, 1867) was a Galician and Czech rabbi and Jewish scholar. Rapoport was known by an acronym "Shir", שי"ר occasionally שיל ...

Luzzatto Luzzatto (or Luzzato) is an Italian surname. According to a tradition communicated by S. D. Luzzatto, the family descends from a German Jew who immigrated into Italy from the province of Lusatia, and who was named after his native place.

Gesenius Gesenius is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Justus Gesenius (1601–1673), German theologian *Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius (3 February 178623 October 1842) was a German orientalist ...

, Lebrecht,

Akiba Eiger Rabbi Akiva Eiger (, also spelled Eger; , yi, עקיבא אייגער), or Akiva Güns (17611837) was an outstanding Talmudic scholar, influential halakhic decisor and foremost leader of European Jewry during the early 19th century. He was also a ...

, and

Leopold Zunz Leopold Zunz ( he, יום טוב צונץ—''Yom Tov Tzuntz'', yi, ליפמן צונץ—''Lipmann Zunz''; 10 August 1794 – 17 March 1886) was the founder of academic Judaic Studies ('' Wissenschaft des Judentums''), the critical investigatio ...

is of great literary interest. Michael's only independent work was ''Or ha-Ḥayyim'' (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1891), a comprehensive bibliographical and literary-historical dictionary of

rabbinical literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...

, edited by his son, with preface by

A. Berliner Abraham (Adolf) Berliner (May 2, 1833 – April 21, 1915) ( Hebrew: אברהם ברלינר) was a German theologian and historian, born in Obersitzko, in the Grand Duchy of Posen, Prussia. He received his first education under his father, wh ...

References

* ;''Jewish Encyclopedia'' bibliography *

, ''Zur Geschichte und Literatur'' p. 244, Berlin, 2010. *''Oẓerot Ḥayyim'', Preface, Hamburg, 1848. *''

Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums ''Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums'' (until May 1903: ''Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums'') was a Jewish German magazine devoted to Jewish interests, founded in 1837 by Ludwig Philippson (1811–89), published first in Leipzig and later in Berlin ...

'' 1846, p. 224. {{DEFAULTSORT:Michael, Heimann 1792 births 1846 deaths Bibliographers of Hebrew literature Bibliophiles Jews from Hamburg