Naphtali Herz Homberg (; September 1749 – 24 August 1841) was a

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'', educator, and writer.

Biography

Heerz Homberg was born at Lieben in 1749. He studied

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at Prague,

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, and Głogów, Glogau, and began the study of general literature in his seventeenth year. The reading of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Rousseau's ''Emile, or On Education, Emile'' awakened in him the desire to devote himself to pedagogy. He prepared himself at Berlin, where he became tutor (1779) to Moses Mendelssohn's eldest son, Joseph. During the three years he remained under Mendelssohn's roof he himself became a pupil of the philosopher, who continued to take an interest in him, as may be seen by his fifteen letters to Homberg (Mendelssohn's ''Gesammelte Schriften'', v., Leipzig, 1844). Under Emperor Joseph II the status of the Jews in Austria underwent a complete change. German normal schools were to be introduced into the Jewish communities, but there were no men available to organize these schools and take charge of the public instruction. Homberg now decided to return to his native country. Being very highly recommended by Mendelssohn, he was appointed (1784) superintendent of all the German-Jewish schools of Galicia (Central Europe), Galicia. In 1793 he was called by Emperor Francis II to Vienna to formulate laws regulating the moral and political status of the Jews in Austria. The work appeared in 1797, and won for Homberg the great gold medal. When the normal schools of Galicia were placed under the general direction of the district schools, Homberg retired to Vienna, employing his time partly as censor and partly in compiling such readers for Jews as had been ordered by the royal commission for studies. He was not successful in either of these directions. Homberg was later appointed assistant professor of religious and moral philosophy at Prague, with the title of "Schulrath," retaining this position until his death.

Bibliography

* Hebrew commentary to Book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy. * * * * * A religious and moral reader for young people. * From the French, with notes. * Religious-moral reader for children. * * A commentary on the Torah, Pentateuch and on Book of Job, Job and Book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Homberg, Herz 1749 births 1841 deaths 18th-century Bohemian people 19th-century Austrian people Austrian educators Austrian expatriates in Germany Austrian expatriates in Hungary Austrian male writers Hebrew-language writers Jewish educators Jewish Czech writers People of the Haskalah Writers from Prague