Heinrich Graetz

Heinrich Graetz (1817–1891) was a German Jewish historian, the first to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a modern Jewish perspective. Born in the province of Posen, he studied at Breslau and Jena and from 1854 taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau, later lecturing at the university there as well. His eleven-volume Geschichte der Juden, published between 1853 and 1876, joined vast learning to passionate narrative and strong judgments, and it was translated into many languages; the English edition appeared in six volumes. He also wrote biblical commentaries and visited Palestine in 1872.