Moses Porges Von Portheim on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Moses Porges,
Moses Porges, 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 Portheim, or Moses Porges von Portheim (13/22 December 1781, Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
– 21 May 1870, Prague) was a Bohemian- Austrian industrialist
A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...
(manufacturer
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...
) and vice-burgomaster
Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief ...
of Prague- Smichow; knight of the Order of Franz Joseph
The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph (german: Kaiserlich-Österreichischer Franz-Joseph-Orden) was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne.
Classes
...
.
He was one of the earliest and most prominent of the large manufacturers of Austria, and was very closely associated with his younger brother, Leopold (Löw) Judah. Moses and Leopold, the sons of the highly respected but poor Gabriel Porges of the Spira family, experienced adventures in the camp of the sectarian Jacob Frank
Jacob Joseph Frank ( he, יעקב פרנק; pl, Jakub Józef Frank; born Jakub Lejbowicz; 1726 – December 10, 1791) was a Polish-Jewish religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi (1626� ...
at Offenburg
Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the administrative capital ...
which have been described by Heinrich Graetz
Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective.
Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (now Książ Wielkop ...
in his "'' Frank und die Frankisten''" ( Breslau, 1868) and his "''Gesch''." x., and in greater detail by Dr. S. Back in "'' Monatsschrift''" (1877, pp. 190 et seq.). Disillusioned, they returned to Prague, and began a small linen business, and in 1808 commenced, with a single cotton-printing press and in a dark shop on the Vltava
Vltava ( , ; german: Moldau ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Labe ...
, an industrial activity which was destined later to reach great dimensions.
In 1830 the rapidly growing business was transferred to the suburb of Smichow, where it developed into one of the largest establishments of the Austrian monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
, and in 1841 the emperor Ferdinand I of Austria
en, Ferdinand Charles Leopold Joseph Francis Marcelin
, image = Kaiser Ferdinand I.jpg
, caption = Portrait by Eduard Edlinger (1843)
, succession = Emperor of Austria King of Hungary
, moretext = ( more...)
, cor-type ...
conferred upon the brothers the patent of hereditary nobility with the title "von
The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''.
Nobility directories like the '' Almanach de ...
Portheim", in recognition of the fact that they were the first cotton-manufacturers to employ steam in their works. When this patent had been offered Moses in the previous year, he asked the Oberstburggraf von Böhmen Chotek for a decree of emancipation of the Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
instead, but this request was not granted. Moses later purchased and operated the porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
factory at Chodov together with the mines belonging to it, and after the passage of the laws of 1861 he and his brother entered politics, the latter being elected to the diet, while the former officiated for several years as vice-burgomaster of Prague-Smichow. The most noteworthy among the numerous benefactions of Moses Porges is the still existing crèche, which, without distinction of creed or nationality, for eight months of the year, receives and cares for 150 children daily while their parents are at work.
Towards the end of his life Moses Porges wrote memoirs of his adventures at Offenbach.
The life of Moses Porges is part of the plot of the historical novel ''Harfeník'' by Jiří Weil
Jiří Weil (; 6 August 1900, Praskolesy – 13 December 1959, Prague) was a Czech writer of Jewish origin and Holocaust survivor. His noted works include the two novels '' Life with a Star'' (''Život s hvězdou''), and ''Mendelssohn Is on the R ...
.
Sources
*References