Joachim Edler von Popper (20 October 1722 – 11 May 1795) came from a family of entrepreneurs and communal leaders from Březnice (''Breznitz'') in the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

, now the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. His father, Wolf Popper, was a Primator (Chief Judge) of the Jews of Bohemia. Joachim Popper moved from Březnice to Prague and prospered there as a merchant (woolens, potash, whalebone), banker and manufacturer. In the mid-eighteenth century, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II held a monopoly of tobacco in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. Leopold divided the monopoly into leases and awarded them to Joachim,

Israel Edler von Hönigsberg Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and Salomon Dobruschka. On 27 May 1790, Joachim was ennobled as the first "

Edler Edler () was until 1919 the lowest rank of nobility in Austria-Hungary and Germany, just beneath a '' Ritter'' (hereditary knight), but above untitled nobles, who used only the nobiliary particle ''von'' before their surname. It was mostly given t ...

von Popper". He was the second

Austrian Jew The history of the Jews in Austria starts after the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation. There have been Jews in Austria since the 3rd century CE. Over the course of many centuries, the political status of the community rose and f ...

to be ennobled, not having to convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

or be baptized in order to do so. Joachim Edler von Popper was also a public figure and benefactor. He founded a

beth midrash A ''beth midrash'' (, "house of learning"; : ''batei midrash''), also ''beis medrash'' or ''beit midrash'', is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall". It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth knesseth''), althoug ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

with Israel Fränkel, and helped fund the construction of the Popper Synagogue. Joachim did not have any biological children, but he adopted his great-nephew Simon Popper, who inherited his title as Simon Edler von Popper. He also adopted his nephew Abraham Löbl Duschenes, who inherited his title as Andreas Josef Edler von Popper, and Elke Joß, who married

Moses Dobruška Moses Dobruška or Moses Dobruschka, alias Junius Frey (12 July 1753, Brno, Moravia – 5 April 1794) was a writer, poet and revolutionary. His mother was the first cousin of Jacob Frank, who claimed to be the Jewish messiah and founded the Franki ...

. Elke was disinherited because of her conversion.Pawel Maciejko, The Mixed Multitude: Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, 1755-1816, University of Pennsylvania Press 2011, S. 195

References

* Krauss, Samuel (1926). ''Joachim Edler von Popper. Ein Zeit- und Lebensbild aus der Geschichte der Juden in Böhmen''. Vienna: Wien. * Roth, Cecil; Wigoder, Geoffrey; Posner, Raphaël; & Rabinowitz, Louis I (2007). ''

Encyclopaedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, Jewish holida ...

'', vol. 13, p. 861. Detroit. * Schnee, Heinrich (2012). ''Die Hoffinanz und der moderne Staat; Geschichte und System der Hoffaktoren an deutschen Fürstenhöfen im Zeitalter des Absolutismus. Nach archivalischen Quellen'', p. 537-540. Prague. * Županič, Jan. ''Die Entstehung des jüdischen Adels in der Habsburgermonarchie.'' Aschkenas – Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Kultur der Juden, p. 473-497. 17. Jg., Heft 2, 2007, Sonderdruck, Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 2010. * Županič, Jan (2012). ''Židovská šlechta podunajské monarchie. Mezi Davidovou hvězdou křížem'', p. 537-540. Prague: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny. . * Narodni Archiv ( Czech National Archives) (2003). ''Soupis zidovskych rodin v Cechach z roku 1793 III.'' Prague. {{DEFAULTSORT:Popper, Joachim Edler von Jews from Austria-Hungary Court Jews Edlers of Austria People from Příbram District 1722 births 1795 deaths 18th-century businesspeople from the Holy Roman Empire Merchants from the Holy Roman Empire