Isaac Gompertz (1774 – 25 February 1856) was an English poet. He was known for the poems "The Modern Antique", "Time, or Light and Shade" and "Devon", the latter of which was published under the name J. Gompertz.

Biography

Early life and family

Isaac Gompertz was born into a Jewish family in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, in 1774. He was one of at least 15 children of Solomon Barent Gompertz, a London diamond merchant, and his second wife, Leah Deborah Cohen. His brothers included the

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

activist and inventor

Lewis Gompertz Lewis Gompertz (1783/4 – 2 December 1861) was an English activist, philosopher, writer, and inventor. He dedicated his life to promoting animal rights and Animal welfare, welfare, and veganism. Gompertz was the youngest of 15 children in a ...

and the mathematician and actuary

Benjamin Gompertz Benjamin Gompertz (5 March 1779 – 14 July 1865) was an English self-educated mathematician and actuary, who became a Fellow of the Royal Society. Gompertz is now best known for his Gompertz law of mortality, a demographic model published in ...

. He later composed epitaphs for his brother Barent and for Lewis' wife.

Career

Gompertz was known for his poems "The Modern Antique", "Time, or Light and Shade", and "Devon". Contemporaries, including

Alexander Jamieson Alexander Jamieson (1782–1850) was a Scottish writer and schoolmaster, now best known as a rhetorician. He has been described as effectively a professional textbook writer. After the failure of his school, he worked as an actuary. Life Some of ...

, compared Gompertz to literary figures such as Dryden,

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Addison Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario, a community United States * Addison, Alabama, a town * Addison, Illinois, a village * Addison, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Addison, Maine, a town * Addison, Michigan, a villag ...

and

Gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

. His works garnered positive attention from

Leigh Hunt James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet. Hunt co-founded '' The Examiner'', a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centre ...

and were well received by the contemporary press. His final work, ''Devon, a Poem'', was published under the name J. Gompertz.

Personal life and death

On 3 December 1818, Gompertz married Charlotte Florence Wattier at

St Mary's Church, Ealing St Mary's Church, Ealing, St Mary's Road, Ealing, England, W5 5RH. The building is listed as Grade II, Number: 1079376. Outside the building is Romanesque. The old medieval church was demolished in 1720 and a new church opened in 1740, design by ...

. They had three sons. Gompertz died at his home in

Ebury Street Ebury Street () is a street in Belgravia, City of Westminster, London. It runs from a Grosvenor Gardens junction south-westwards to Pimlico Road. It was built mostly in the period 1815 to 1860. Odd numbers 19 to 231 are on the south-east side ...

, London, on 25 February 1856, at the age of 82. He was buried at

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

Publications

*
The Modern Antique; Or, The Muse in the Costume of Queen Anne
' (London: W. Pople, 1813; published anonymously) *
Time, or Light and Shade
' (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1815) * ''Devon, a Poem'' (Teignmouth: 1825; published under the name J. Gompertz)

References

External links

*
Isaac Gompertz Papers
at the Jewish Theological Seminary Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Gompertz, Isaac 1774 births 1856 deaths 19th-century English male writers 19th-century English poets 19th-century pseudonymous writers Burials at Brompton Cemetery English Ashkenazi Jews English male poets English people of German-Jewish descent Jewish English writers Isaac Gompertz Jewish poets People from Middlesex (before 1889) Poets from London