Meier Hirsch was a mathematician born in Friesack, Prussia, sometime around 1765-1770. His first publications date to the 1790s, and from 1804-1810 his publishing activity peaked; in particular, a collection of algebra problems went through several editions during the 19th century and appears to have been a popular teaching tool during this time. During this period of publishing activity, he also worked a private teacher in Berlin, among others for the Humboldt family. He claimed to have developed a method of solving equations of any power, although he recanted this claim in his final publication in 1810. Afterwards, he lived a reclusive life in Berlin and apparently succumbed to a mental illness.
George Salomon was born in Hamburg on 1920 April 23 as the first child of the historian Richard Georg Salomon and his wife Gertrud J. Horwitz. His research notes in this collection indicate that his family was related to the Hirsch family of Friesack by marriage. In 1937 he graduated from high school with his Abitur at the Johanneum Hamburg. In 1938 the family emigrated to the U.S. where George studied at Swarthmore College from 1937 to 1940 and in 1938 he became co-founder of a fund for refugee students. From 1940 onwards, he worked in New Yorks printing industry, and in 1947 he became a graphic designer. George Salomon died on May 8, 1981 in Great Neck, N.Y, leaving behind his wife Mathilde Norah Loewen and their children, Frank and Richard.
From the guide to the George Salomon Collection, circa 1976-1981, (Leo Baeck Institute Archives)
