Eliezer Simon Kirschbaum (1797–1860) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and writer.

Biography

He was born in

Sieniawa Sieniawa (), is a town in southeastern Poland, in Przeworsk County in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It had a population of 2,127 inhabitants (02.06.2009). History Sieniawa's history dates back to the 17th century, and the town owes its existenc ...

, Galicia, 1797 and died in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

in 1860. After studying philosophy and medicine in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, he settled as a physician in Kraków, and as "Der Berliner Doctor" soon acquired an extensive practice and accumulated a considerable fortune. In order to be able to secure the estate of Siemota, near

Chrzanów Chrzanów () is a town in southern Poland with 35,651 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999) and is the seat of Chrzanów County. History History to 1809 It is impossible to establish ...

, he adopted the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

religion, and assumed the name of "Sigismund." As a married man he permitted his wife to remain a law-abiding Jew throughout her life. Kirschbaum was the author of a long

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

essay, entitled "Hilkot Yeme ha-Mashiaḥ." In the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

he published "Der Jüdische Alexandrinismus," Leipzig, 1841, and "Der Familie Apotheose," Kraków, 1858.

References

1797 births 1860 deaths Physicians from the Austrian Empire Writers from the Austrian Empire Austrian Jews {{Austria-writer-stub