WOLFF, JOSEPH

WOLFF, JOSEPH
WOLFF, JOSEPH (1795–1862), world traveler and Christian missionary to the Jews in the Oriental Diaspora. Born in Weilersbach, Bavaria, the son of a rabbi, he converted to Catholicism in 1812. He was admitted to the Collegio Romani in 1816, but after being expelled because of his heretical views, he moved to England and joined the Anglican Church. In 1827 he married the daughter of the Earl of Oxford, and their son was Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, the well-known diplomat and politician. He studied Oriental languages and theology at universities in Vienna and Tuebingen, among others. Thereafter he became a missionary to the Jews, traveling to Palestine, Kurdistan, Mesopotamia, Turkey, Persia, Khurasan, Bukhara, India, Yemen, Abyssinia, and many European countries.   He undertook his first great missionary journey to the Orient in 1821, which he described in Missionary Journal and Memoirs of Reverend Joseph Wolff (3 vols. London, 1827–29). After touring the British Isles and Holland in 1827, and Palestine and Cyprus in 1829, in 1831 he undertook his second journey to Asia, which he described in Researches and Missionary Labours Among the Jews, Mohammedans, and other Sects (18311834) (2 vols., London, 1835). In 1836 he traveled to the U.S., where he delivered a sermon before Congress in Washington, received a degree at Annapolis, Maryland, and was ordained as deacon in New Jersey. In 1838, however, he returned to England, accepting a parish in Somerset and occupying this office until his death. He left in 1843 for a second journey to Bukhara, having offered to search for Charles Stoddart and A. Conolly, two high-ranking English officers imprisoned by the emir of Bukhara. However, they had been executed before his arrival, and Wolff himself narrowly escaped a similar fate. The Bukharan episode is described in Narrative of a Mission to Bukhara to Ascertain the Fate of Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly (2 vols., London, 1845), which ran into seven editions. His writings contain interesting and valuable details about the Jews and Jewish communities in the regions he had visited, but because of his missionary zeal and erratic character, Wolff's data lack objectivity and reliability. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Wolff, Travels and Adventures. An Autobiography, 2 vols. (1861); H.L. Palmer, Joseph Wolff; His Romantic Life and Travels (1935); G. Wint (ed.), Mission to Bokhara (1969). (Walter Joseph Fischel)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Wolff, Joseph — (c. 1795 1862)    Jewish convert who led missions to Jews    Joseph Wolff was born in Weilersbach, Bavaria, Germany, the son of a rabbi. As a youth, he left his family and converted to Catholicism; Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier became his role …   Encyclopedia of Protestantism

  • Wolff, Joseph — (1795 1862)    German missionary. He was born in Weilersbach, Bavaria. He converted to Catholicism in 1812, but later he joined the Anglican Church, serving as a vicar in England. He travelled as a missionary to the Jews in Palestine, Kurdistan,… …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Joseph Wolff — (1795 May 2, 1862), Jewish Christian missionary, was born at Weilersbach, near Bamberg, Germany.His father became rabbi at Württemberg in 1806, and sent his son to the Protestant lyceum at Stuttgart. He was converted to Christianity through… …   Wikipedia

  • Joseph Roth — (1918) Moses Joseph Roth (* 2. September 1894 in Brody, Österreich Ungarn; † 27. Mai 1939 in Paris) war ein österreichischer Schriftsteller und Journalist …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Joseph Kessel — Activités aventurier, journaliste et romancier Naissance …   Wikipédia en Français

  • WOLFF (C. von) — WOLFF ou WOLF CHRISTIAN VON (1679 1754) Philosophe, Christian Wolff est connu aussi comme mathématicien et comme juriste. Après des études de théologie, de philosophie, de mathématiques et de droit naturel à Breslau, à Iéna et à Leipzig, Wolff… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Joseph Serge Miot — (* 23. November 1946 in Jérémie, Haiti; † 12. Januar 2010 in Port au Prince, Haiti) war Erzbischof von Port au Prince. Leben Joseph Serge Miot studierte Philosophie und Theologie am Grand Séminaire Notre Dame de Turgeau in Port au Prince. Er… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Joseph Miot — Joseph Serge Miot Biographie Naissance 23 novembre 1946 à Jérémie (Haïti) Ordination sacerdotale 4 juillet 1975 Décès 12 janvier 2010 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Joseph Serge Miot — Arzobispo Puerto Príncipe Ordenación 4 de julio de 1975 Consagración episcopal 12 de octubre de 1997 Nacimiento 23 de noviembre de 1946 en Jérémie, Haiti Fallecimiento …   Wikipedia Español

  • Joseph Bruce Ismay — (* 12. Dezember 1862 in Crosby bei Liverpool; † 17. Oktober 1937 in Mayfair bei London) war ein britischer Geschäftsmann und Direktor der White Star Line. In dieser Funktion nahm er wesentlichen Anteil an Planung und Bau der drei Atlantikliner… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”