Zunz, Leopold, 1794-1886

Born in Detmold on August 10, 1794, Leopold Zunz was educated at the Samson'sche Freischule in Wolfenbüttel, and the universities of Berlin and Halle. In 1819, he was a founding member of the Verein fuer Cultur und Wissenschaft der Juden in Berlin, in which prominent intellectual figures like Eduard Gans, Heinrich Heine, M. I. Jost and Immanuel Wohlwill gathered. From this club, the so-called Wissenschaft des Judentums emerged, mainly based on two early works of Zunz, the programmatic article " Etwas über rabbinische Litteratur " (1818) and the major ground-breaking study on Jewish sermons, Die gottesdienstlichen Vortraege der Juden, historisch entwickelt (1832). After receiving his doctorate in 1821, he worked as a preacher and teacher and became the editor of the journal Zeitschrift für die Wissenschaft des Judenthums . In 1822, he married Adelheid Bermann (1802-1874). In later years, he retreated more and more from his public duties and dedicated his life to the study of Jewish literature. He died in Berlin on March 17, 1886.

From the guide to the Leopold and Adelheid Zunz Collection, 1815-1959, (Leo Baeck Institute)

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