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12 Facts About Gotthard Deutsch

1.

Gotthard Deutsch was a scholar of Jewish history.

2.

Gotthard Deutsch always called himself Gotthard, an attempted translation into German of his Jewish given name.

3.

Shortly after his graduation, Gotthard Deutsch received Semichah from Weiss.

4.

In 1881 Gotthard Deutsch accepted a probational position as sabbath schoolteacher for a Jewish congregation in Brno, Moravia.

5.

In 1891, at the invitation of Isaac Mayer Wise, Gotthard Deutsch moved to the United States to accept the chair of Jewish history and philosophy at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati.

6.

In 1912, Gotthard Deutsch delivered lectures on Jewish history at the University of Chicago.

7.

Much of Gotthard Deutsch's time was spent as an editor and chief contributor to the Jewish Encyclopedia, as corresponding secretary for the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and as chairman of the conference's Committee on Contemporaneous History.

8.

Gotthard Deutsch spoke out singularly, sometimes bitterly, against his adopted country's wartime role.

9.

Only the staunch support of his students, friends, and leading Reform rabbis enabled Gotthard Deutsch to continue teaching.

10.

Gotthard Deutsch was mourned by Jew and non-Jew, progressive and conservative; thousands filled the Cincinnati Crematory to pay their last respects.

11.

One of the world's greatest Jewish scholars, Gotthard Deutsch possessed a knack for memorizing facts, biblical scriptures, secular literature, and world history.

12.

Gotthard Deutsch wrote in several languages, including Hebrew, Yiddish, German, French, and English.