Montefiore, SIR MOSES

Montefiore, SIR MOSES, a Jewish philanthropist, descendant of a wealthy family of bankers, was born in Leghorn, October 24, 1784, where his parents happened to be sojourning. His grandparents had emigrated from Leghorn to London in 1750. In 1812 he married Judith Cohen (1784-1862), a lady who went hand in hand with him in all his many schemes of philanthropy. As a stockbroker he soon achieved great success. In 1818 he was elected president of the Spanish and Portuguese community. From 1829 onwards he took a prominent part in the struggle for removing the civil disabilities of English Jews (see JEWS). In 1835 he was one of the parties to the contract for the £15,000,000 given as compensation to the slave-owners. He was for a time High Sheriff of Kent, and, after long exclusion and repeated re-election, was legally admitted as Sheriff of London in 1837. In that year he was knighted, and in 1846 was raised to a baronetcy in recognition of his meritorious public services. He distinguished himself by his practical sympathy with his oppressed countrymen in various parts of the East, chiefly in Poland, Russia, Roumania, and Damascus. He made seven journeys to the East, the first being in 1827 and the latest in 1874, chiefly for the amelioration of the condition of his countrymen. At Bucharest, during an anti-Jewish ferment, he boldly faced the mob at the risk of his life. He was presented with the freedom of the City of London in 1873, and an address in 1883. In memory of his wife he endowed a Jewish college at Ramsgate in 1865. In his hundredth year he was still hale and well, but died 29th July 1885. See Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore (2 vols. 1890).