Charlotte imcha/SchöncheMontefiore (14 April 1818 – 21 July 1854) was an

Anglo-Jewish British Jews (often referred to collectively as British Jewry or Anglo-Jewry) are British people, British citizens who are Jews, Jewish. The number of people who identified as Jews in the United Kingdom rose by just under 4% between 2001 and 202 ...

author and educational philanthropist.

Life

Charlotte Simcha (or Shönche) Montefiore was the daughter of Abraham Montefiore (brother of Sir Moses Montefiore) and his second wife, Henriette (Jette) Rothschild, (youngest daughter of

Mayer Amschel Rothschild Mayer Amschel Rothschild (23 February 1744 – 19 September 1812; also spelled ''Anschel'') was a German-Jewish banker and the founder of the Rothschild family, Rothschild banking dynasty. Referred to as a "founding father of international fin ...

). Born in London in 1818, she was the second of their four children. According to her obituary in the ''

Jewish Chronicle ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...

'' she read widely, "embracing every species of literature and especially moral and ethical philosophy." Montefiore devoted herself to charitable works and was particularly interested in the support of Jewish schools, including the Jews' Free School. She was a founder of the Jewish Emigration Society and of the Jewish Ladies' Benevolent Loan and Visiting Society. In 1841 she founded the "Cheap Jewish Library" (see below) with the help of Grace Aguilar and Rabbi David de Aaron de Sola. In the same year appeared (anonymously) her satirical novel ''Caleb Asher'' which attacked evangelical conversion movements directed at the Jewish community. In 1851 she published, again anonymously, a collection of essays ''A Few Words to the Jews, by One of Themselves''. This set out the duty of British Jewry to improve "the rough and uncultivated nature" of the Jewish working class in England "for, if it is left to its own untutored guidance, it may stray into a wrong channel." Her authorship of all these works was only revealed after her death. In 1847 Montefiore married her widowed uncle Horatio Joseph Montefiore (1798-1867), by whom she had two children, Helen Sarah (1848-1933) and Charles Abraham (1854-1945). She died the day after Charles's birth at Westbourne Terrace, Hyde Park. Horatio had quit the

Sephardi Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

synagogue at Bevis Marks in 1842 to join the

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

congregation at

West London Synagogue The West London Synagogue, abbreviated WLS, and fully the West London Synagogue of British Jews () is a Reform Judaism, Reform Judaism, Jewish congregation and synagogue, located near Marble Arch, at 34 Upper Berkeley Street, in the City of Wes ...

(alienating his brother Moses). Charlotte was therefore denied burial at the Sephardi cemetery, and is buried at the Jewish cemetery in Bancroft Road,

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and includes much of ...

. A charity was founded in her name shortly after her death to provide countryside excursions for poor urban Jewish families.Dwor (2015)

"The Cheap Jewish Library"

"The Cheap Jewish Library, Dedicated to the Working Classes" was a periodical which appeared between 1841 and 1849. In starting it Charlotte may have been encouraged by her sister Louise. Charlotte and Grace Aguilar were the principal authors of the work, which was funded by Charlotte and had print-runs of between 250 - 500 copies. De Sola acted as editor and intermediary between Montefiore and Aguilar.Shahaf (2003), 54 ''Caleb Asher'' first appeared in instalments in the Library. In the opinion of Richa Dwor "Although the "Cheap Jewish Library" lost money, it fulfilled Montefiore's charitable aims ..to address religious reform and conversion. It also provided a context in which female authors corresponded and encouraged one another in publication, and thus may be viewed as contributing to the beginnings of a Jewish women's movement in England." In 1856 the editor of the ''Jewish Chronicle'' wrote that "the original writings of the late Mrs. Montefiore are productions of which the community may well be proud."

References

Notes

Sources

* Dwor, Richa (2015) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Montefiore, Charlotte 1818 births 1854 deaths Writers from London Philanthropists from London English philanthropists 19th-century English women writers English women novelists Jewish English writers English people of Italian-Jewish descent Jewish women writers 19th-century English novelists 19th-century British Sephardi Jews 19th-century English Jews English women non-fiction writers 19th-century British philanthropists