David goose
David (ben Salomon) Gans (* 1541 in Lippstadt ; † 1613 in Prague ) was a Jewish historian , astronomer and geographer . Since he was also educated theologically and mathematically, some call him a universal scholar .
Life
David Gans associated with the most important scholars of his time, u. a. with Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe , whom Emperor Rudolf II had appointed to his Prague court in 1599. He was a student of the well-known Rabbi Löw , whom he u. a. made acquainted with Tycho.
In his historical treatise Zemach David (Scion of David), Gans recorded all events in Prague's Jewish quarter . For example, he reports for the year 1592 of a meeting between Emperor Rudolf and Rabbi Judah Löw , which is still shrouded in secrecy , at which the Emperor spoke to him “... face to face, as if to a friend (Ex. 33:11). And the ways of her words were mysterious, closed and hidden. And this happened here in the holy community in Prague, on the first day (of the week; Sunday), the 3rd Adar (5) 352.
" Ctibor Rybár says of the" Zemach David " that it is" undoubtedly the most widely read scripture in Hebrew with secular content ”.
David Gans also wrote the Nechamat weNaim ( sweet and pleasant) on astronomical and geographical subjects. It can be assumed that he was in contact with Tycho Brahe, who was working on his “tychonic world system” at the end of the 1580s (see also Nicolaus Reimers ).
Gans was buried in the old Jewish cemetery ; a goose is engraved on the top of his tombstone as a personal symbol .
literature
- Adolf Brüll : Goose, David . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1878, p. 360 f.
- Angela von Gans, Monika Groening: The Gans family 1350-1963. Verlag Regionalkultur, Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 3-89735-486-1 .
- GANS, DAVID BEN SOLOMON BEN SELIGMAN. In: Isidore Singer (Ed.): Jewish Encyclopedia . Funk and Wagnalls, New York 1901-1906.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Goose, David |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Goose, David ben Salomon |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Jewish historian , astronomer and geographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1541 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lippstadt |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1613 |
| Place of death | Prague |