Moses Ensheim (1750–9 April 1839), also known as Brisac and Moses Metz, was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

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 ...

poet.

Biography

Destined for the rabbinate by his parents, Ensheim left his native

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

against his father's will, and for many years led a wandering life. From 1782 to 1785 he was tutor in the family of

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'Je ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, having special charge over the education of Abraham Mendelssohn. On leaving Mendelssohn's house he returned to Metz, where he struggled hard to make a living by teaching mathematics. Being a Jew, he was rejected for the position of professor of mathematics at the newly founded École centrale de Metz. Ensheim was a prominent member of the movement instituted by the

Me'assefim The Me'assefim () were a group of Hebrew writers who between 1784 and 1811 published their works in the periodical ''Ha-Me'assef'' (), which they had founded. History In 1782 Moses Mendelssohn's German translation of the Pentateuch had appeared. I ...

. In 178, he published a volume of Hebrew riddles. In 1790, Ensheim published ''Shalosh Ḥidot'', a satire against billiards card card games, and two hymns: ''Al-ha-Va'ad ha-Gadol asher bi-medinat Ẓarefat'', addressed to the National Assembly in Versailles, and the triumphal song ''La-Menaẓe'aḥ Shir'', which was sung in 1793 in the synagogue at Metz to the tune of ''

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

''. He was an intimate friend of

Abbé Grégoire ''Abbé'' (from Latin ''abbas'', in turn from Greek , ''abbas'', from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is the title for lowe ...

, and helped him with the preparation of his 1788 essay in defense of the Jews. His ''Recherches sur les calculs différentiels et intégrals'' (1799) was highly praised by

Lagrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi LagrangiaLaplace Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace (; ; 23 March 1749 – 5 March 1827) was a French scholar and polymath whose work was important to the development of engineering, mathematics, statistics, physics, astronomy, and philosophy. He summarized ...

, with whom he was personally associated. His last years were passed at

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

as a tutor in the home of

Abraham Furtado Abraham Furtado (1756-1817) was born to a French Jewish family of Portuguese Marrano descent. He was born in London after his family emigrated there after the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. Soon after, they moved to a small town in southwestern France, ...

, his leisure being devoted to Talmudical studies. Before his death in 1839 he gave 12,000 francs, one-fourth of his fortune, to the Jewish elementary school of Metz.

References

* Moses Mendelssohn, ''Gesammelte Schriften'', i. 54, v. 685; * Grätz, ''Gesch.'' x. 135, 227; * ''Allg. Zeit. des Jud.'' iii. 247, 306; * ''Arch. Isr.'' 1845, p. 71; * Bégin, ''Biographie de la Moselle'', s.v. 1830. * Steinschneider, ''Cat. Bod.'' 972. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ensheim, Moses 1750 births 1839 deaths Jewish French scientists 18th-century French mathematicians 19th-century French mathematicians 18th-century French Jews Writers from Metz People of the Haskalah Scientists from Metz