Raphael Basch, also Rafael Basch (1813 – 22 January 1907) was a

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

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 ...

writer and politician. He was the adoptive father of

Victor Basch Basch Viktor Vilém, or Victor-Guillaume Basch (18 August 1863/1865, Budapest – 10 January 1944) was a History of the Jews in France, French Jewish politician and professor of germanistics and philosophy at the University of Paris, Sorbonne de ...

(1863–1944).

Biography

Basch was born in 1813 in

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 ...

, then part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. After the first disturbances leading to the

Revolution of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

, he went to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and took an active part in the insurrection. There he founded the '' Reichstagblatt'', which he continued at

Kroměříž Kroměříž (; ) is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 28,000 inhabitants. It is known for Kroměříž Castle with its castle gardens, which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The historic town centre with the castle ...

until the dissolution of the

Constitutional Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

in March 1849. He then joined the staff of the ''

Österreichische Post The Austrian Post (German: ''Österreichische Post Aktiengesellschaft'') is a company that provides postal service in Austria. It was established in 1999 after a split-off from the state-owned PTT agency ''Post und Telekom Austria AG'' and is lis ...

'' of Vienna, which he represented at Berlin; later he served as the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

correspondent for several newspapers. In 1855 he returned to Vienna, where he edited the '' Oesterreichische Zeitung'', serving as official spokesman for Karl Ludwig von Bruck against

Alexander von Bach Alexander, Baron von Bach (German: ''Alexander Freiherr von Bach''; 4 January 1813, Loosdorf, Austria – 12 November 1893, Schöngrabern, Austria) was an Austrian politician. His most notable achievement was instituting a system of centralized c ...

’s policies that curtailed

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

and empowered the

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to control education and family life. After Austria's emperor

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

promulgated a new constitution in 1861, Basch acted in a similar capacity for the

Anton von Schmerling Anton Ritter von Schmerling (23 August 180523 May 1893) was an Austrian statesman. Life Von Schmerling was born in Vienna, where his father held a high position on the judicial side of the civil service. After studying law at Vienna, in 1829 Sch ...

ministry, with whose political party he remained connected until its fall. Until 1875 Basch was engaged only in economic questions, but in that year he returned to political journalism. He represented the ''

Neue Freie Presse ''Neue Freie Presse'' ("New Free Press") was a Viennese newspaper founded by Adolf Werthner together with the journalists Max Friedländer and Michael Etienne on 1 September 1864 after the staff had split from the newspaper ''Die Presse''. It ...

'' at Paris; and, in close fellowship with

Adolphe Thiers Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( ; ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian who served as President of France from 1871 to 1873. He was the second elected president and the first of the Third French Republic. Thi ...

Léon Gambetta Léon Gambetta (; 2 April 1838 – 31 December 1882) was a French lawyer and republican politician who proclaimed the French Third Republic in 1870 and played a prominent role in its early government. Early life and education Born in Cahors, ...

, and

Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire (19 August 1805 – 24 November 1895) was a French philosopher, journalist, statesman, and possible illegitimate son of Napoleon I of France. Biography Jules was born in Paris. Marie Belloc Lowndes, in the ...

, he defended the republican policy against the men of 16 May. Basch died on 22 January 1907 in Paris.

Literary works

He has published a number of political pamphlets; Two of these, entitled ''Deutschland, Oesterreich, und Europa'', and ''Oesterreich und das Nationalitätenrecht'', Stuttgart, 1870 — which appeared under the pseudonym ''Ein Altoesterreicher'' — created on their appearance a great sensation in Austria.

References

* ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
“Basch, Raphael”
by Isidore Singer & Victor Basch (1906). Now in public domain. 1813 births 1907 deaths Politicians from Prague Czech Jews Jews from Austria-Hungary Politicians from Austria-Hungary Writers from Austria-Hungary Expatriates in France {{Jewish-hist-stub