Joseph Hoffa

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Joseph Meyer Hoffa (born August 18, 1803 in Kassel ; died April 23, 1853 in Marburg ) was a German classical philologist , private lecturer and teacher who worked in Marburg from 1827 until his death. His professional career was marked by unsuccessful attempts as a Jew to obtain a professorship or other state employment in Kurhessen .

Early years

Hoffa's father was the war payment agent of the Hesse-Kassel elector Wilhelm I. He lost this position and the income associated with it in November 1806, when Kassel was occupied by Napoleon's troops, the elector fled and Hesse-Kassel then moved to the Kingdom of Westphalia by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte was incorporated. Despite the family's precarious financial situation, Josef and his older brother Jonas were able to enjoy a good school education. From the age of 6, Josef was taught in a private school in Kassel. In 1816 he was accepted into the Lyceum Fridericianum , founded in 1779, under its rector Nathanael Caesar . After graduating, he went to the Philipps University of Marburg in 1821 with financial support from wealthy fellow believers , where he studied philology and education . In spring 1823 he moved to the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg . After a year there, he had to leave Heidelberg for financial reasons. He went to Frankfurt am Main , where he worked as a teacher at the Israelite private school of Dr. Because found. After two years at this school, he found a position as court master or tutor in Frankfurt, which gave him enough time to prepare for his doctorate .

Scientific career

On April 30, 1827, he received his doctorate in philosophy at the University of Marburg and in the same year he completed his habilitation, also in Marburg, for philology and modern languages. Thereupon he was admitted to the Philosophical Faculty there in autumn 1827 as a private lecturer. Until his death in 1853 he taught classical philology and until 1844 also Hebrew , and from 1843 to 1853 also Romance and English philology. He has given lectures on Latin style, Greek writers and Roman antiquities and privatissima in Latin, Greek, English, French and Hebrew. From 1838 he also gave French lessons at the secondary school in Marburg in order to make a living.

A few weeks after the liberal constitution of the Electorate of Hesse was passed , he first applied for an extraordinary professorship at Philipps University in March 1831, but was rejected by the Philosophical Faculty. In addition to doubts about his personal suitability, it was stated that there was no legal basis for employing a Jew; the new constitution had postponed the legal equality of Jews to a legal regulation. As in the case of Joseph Rubino, Professor Friedrich Rehm , member of the university assembly and temporarily rector, took the position that the university was a “Christian corporation” and Jews viewed themselves as an independent nation. Therefore, they could not be citizens. Keeping the Sabbath is incompatible with the official duties of a professor, soldier or official; However, if a Jew does not keep the Sabbath, he is irreligious and should be rejected for this reason alone.

In the Senate, however, the rejection met with criticism. Sun pointed Ferdinand Wurzer out that it is contrary to the principle of equal treatment if indeed Jewish civil and military doctors, however, are likely to be no professors. With this justification, according to Wurzer, Baruch de Spinoza and Moses Mendelssohn could also have been rejected. The economist Michael Alexander Lips also contradicted Rehm's reasoning. Ultimately, however, Wurzer and Lips could not prevail, and the Senate accepted the recommendation of the Philosophical Faculty to reject Hoffa.

In October 1833, Hoffa, who lived in precarious circumstances, asked again for a job at the university, alternatively for a gratuity . A few days later he added his application for a job as secretary of the state library . The appointment was refused again, but he received a bonus of 50 thalers. In the following period Hoffa turned to the Hessian Ministry of the Interior and the Prince Regent Friedrich Wilhelm , referring to a personal conversation with Interior Minister Ludwig Hassenpflug . He asked for a job with a fixed salary that would save him humiliating begging letters. He also applied for a position as a high school teacher twice without success. Only in 1838 did he receive another bonus of 50 thalers after Hassenpflug left the government. Hoffa repeated his submissions in the following years and also applied as a high school and secondary school teacher. However, it was explained to him that as a Jew he basically had no prospect of a job. He was again given gratuities on various occasions, but he was unable to achieve any of his goals.

In 1843 he renewed his submission. Joseph Rubino , from the Jewish community of Fritzlar , who had become a full professor at the University of Marburg after his conversion to Christianity , however, considered him poorly talented and only suitable for teaching, and said it was a mistake to get Hoffa to work to reinforce his misorientation at the university. Hoffa's other applications as a lecturer and secondary school teacher were also unsuccessful.

Hoffa died on April 23, 1853. He was buried in the old Jewish cemetery in Marburg , where his tombstone ( Mazewa ) can still be found today.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Jonas Meyer Hoffa became a Hessian military doctor.
  2. ↑ Dissertation: De senatu Romano, qualis fuerit reipublicae liberae temporibus.
  3. ^ Intelligence sheet of the Jenaische Allgemeine. Literatur-Zeitung , No. 45, July 1828, pp. 353-354
  4. ↑ Electoral Hessian Court and State Handbook: 1850 , p. 295
  5. ↑ Photo of the tombstone in the old Jewish cemetery in Marburg

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SURNAME Hoffa, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hoffa, Joseph Meyer; Hoffa, Josephus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German philologist, private lecturer and teacher
DATE OF BIRTH August 18, 1803
PLACE OF BIRTH kassel
DATE OF DEATH April 23, 1853
Place of death Marburg