Ignaz Isaac Jeiteles

Ignaz Jeiteles:

Austrian writer on esthetics and philosophy; born at Prague Sept. 13, 1783; died at Vienna June 19, 1843. The son of Baruch (Benedict) Jeiteles and grandson of Jonas Jeiteles, he was carefully educated under their supervision. He studied at the Piarists' gymnasium at Prague, and was then enrolled in the law school of the university in that city, but devoted himself to classical literature and esthetics, being influenced by A. G. Meissner, who was then lecturing at Prague on these subjects. Forced by private circumstances to devote most of his time to commercial pursuits, he removed to Vienna, where, nevertheless, he soon became known by the clear, incisive articles, full of common sense, which he wrote for different periodicals of Vienna.

He especially interested himself in all that pertained to the oppressed condition of the Jews, although he was not always successful in his endeavors. His "Gedanken an der Wiege eines Jüdischen Kindes" still possesses considerable value. He contributed hundreds of essays to the "Annalen für Oesterreichische Literatur" (1816-20); "Elegante Zeitung" (1809-12); "Dresdener Abendzeitung" (1817); "Sulamith" (1806-18); "Hormayers Archiv" (1812-15); "Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst und Literatur (1817-20); Lewald's "Europa"; and the various "Taschenbücher" of that time. Unfortunately he could not carry out his plan (1838) of issuing a literary supplement to Bäuerles' "Theater-Zeitung." His death interrupted also his work on a history of literature, for which he had been collecting material for years.

Jeiteles published in book form: "Die Kuhpockenimpfung," Prague, 1804 (together with his father and grandfather); "Biographie des Dr. Jonas Jeiteles," ib. 1806; "Analekten, Arabesken, und Analogien," ib. 1807; "Clio, eine Reihe Welthistorischer Szenen," Vienna, 1834; and his chief work, "AesthetischesLexicon, ein Alphabetisches Handbuch zur Theorie der Philosophie des Schönen und der Schönen Kunst," 2 vols., Vienna, 1835-38. During his last years he undertook a journey to Italy, the fruit of which, "Eine Reise nach Rom," was published posthumously by August Lewald (Siegen and Wiesbaden, 1844). In 1838 Jeiteles received the honorary degree of Ph.D. from the University of Jena for his works on esthetics.A. Ki.

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His son IGNAZ (Isaac; 1783–1843) studied law at Prague University before moving to Vienna (1810) and establishing himself there as a merchant. A prolific writer, he contributed to general and Jewish periodicals, his articles on Jewish history in *Sulamith being of particular interest. Along with his father, he supported his grandfather's efforts toward vaccination in a pamphlet (Die Kuhpockenimpfung, 1804) and published Biographie des Dr. Jonas Jeiteles (1806). His main literary achievement was Aesthetisches Lexikon (2 vols., 1835–38). Ignaz was eventually estranged from Judaism. One of Baruch's other sons, SAMUEL (d. 1861), who was baptized in 1828 as Sigmund Christian Geitler, Edler von Armingen, became an outstanding industrialist and philanthropist. Baruch's youngest son, LEOPOLD, was also baptized and adopted the name Geitler (1833). JUDAH LOEB (1773–1838), another of Jonas' sons, a Hebrew writer, contributed to the Ha-Me'assef and to the annuals Bikkurei ha-Ittim and Kerem Ḥemed, publishing poems and biblical and halakhic articles. He was also the author of an Aramaic grammar Mevo ha-Lashon ha-Aramit (1813) and a collection of poems Benei ha-Ne'urim (1821). One of the four chairmen of the Prague community, Judah supervised its German-language school. Unlike both the radical maskilim and the Orthodox, he favored a school in which secular and Jewish religious education would be united. It was mainly Judah who developed the peculiar blend of Hapsburg patriotism and awareness of the Jews as one of the nations in the empire which was characteristic of the Prague Haskalah. It found its outstanding expression in his opposition to Mordecai Manuel *Noah's program for his city of refuge, Ararat (Bikkurei ha-Ittim, 7 (1826/27), 45–49), claiming that nobody would answer Noah's call because "they are all now living under the rule of benign and merciful kings who deal mercifully and benevolently with us, as with all the other nations who live together with us in harmony and friendship." In 1835 he published a Hebrew and Aramaic translation of the Austrian anthem (shir tehillah me-ammei ha-araẓot). Judah was the first to use the expression *"Haskalah" for the Enlightenment movement. For Anton von *Schmidt's fourth edition of the Bible he translated and edited several volumes. In 1830 he settled in Vienna and edited the last two volumes of Bikkurei ha-Ittim (nos. 11 and 12) in 1831, making it of greater interest to Jewish scholarship.