Michael Heilprin

Who was Michael Heilprin?

Michael Heilprin was a Polish-American Jewish biblical scholar, critic, and writer, born at Piotrków, Russian Poland, to Jewish parents. His family was distinguished by its knowledge of Hebrew lore as far back as the 16th century. Michael Heilprin was a scholar who was familiar with more than a dozen languages.

His father, Phineas Mendel Heilprin, left Poland for Hungary in 1842. On the outbreak of the Hungarian revolution in 1848, Michael threw himself ardently into the movement led by Kossuth. The collapse of the revolution resulted in him leaving Europe in 1856 for the United States where he remained for the rest of his life.

He was connected with the American Cyclopædia from 1858 and was one of the associate editors of the new edition of that publication. From the time of its establishment in 1865, he became a regular contributor to the New York Nation. In 1879-1880, he published two volumes of The Historical Poetry of the Ancient Hebrews, Translated and Critically Examined, a work of profound original research. The work was left incomplete at the author's death.