Raphael Levi Hannover (1685 – May 17, 1779) was a German

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

. The son of Jacob Joseph, Hannover was born at

Weikersheim Weikersheim is a town in the Main-Tauber district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Town rights were granted to Weikersheim in 1313. As one of the seats of the House of Hohenlohe, until 1756 Weikersheim's town center was dominated by Wei ...

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

in 1685. He was educated at the

school of Hanover and at the yeshivah of

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, and became bookkeeper in the firm of

Simon Wolf Oppenheimer Simon Wolf Oppenheimer (died 10 November 1726) was a German Jewish banker and Court Jew of the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in Hanover. He was the son of Samuel Oppenheimer, and was married to Frade Behrends, the granddaughter of Leffmann Beh ...

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

. Here he attracted the attention of

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in addition to many ...

, and for a number of years was one of his most distinguished pupils and lived by him for three years (including last secretary), and afterward teacher of mathematics, astronomy, and natural philosophy. He also corresponded with

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...

. Raphael Levi Hannover wrote: "Luḥot ha-'Ibbur," astronomical tables for the

Jewish calendar The Hebrew calendar (), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. It determines the dates of Jewish holidays and other rituals, such as ''yahrzeits ...

; "Tekunat ha-Shamayim," on astronomy and calendar-making, especially commenting on the

Talmudical The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewis ...

passages on these topics, with glosses of Moses Tiktin. An enlarged revision of the latter work, with two other astronomical works of his, is in manuscript. The "Luḥot ha-'Ibbur" has been published with M. E. Fürth's "Yir'at Shamayim," on Maimonides' "Yad," Ḳiddush ha-Ḥodesh.Dessau, 1820-21 He died in

in 1779.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

* Fürst, Bibl. Jud. i. 362; * Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 2127; * Zeitlin, Bibl. Post-Mendels, p. 135; * Orient, 1846, pp. 256 et seq.; * Blogg, Sefer ha-Ḥayyim, p. 324, Hanover, 1867, where a copy of Hannover's epitaph is given.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

References

Further reading