Mór Ballagi (1815-1891), scholar
Mór Ballagi (1815-1891) was a Hungarian Jewish scholar.
Biography
Ballagi was born in Inóc [Hungary] on 18. March 1815 in a North-Hungarian Jewish family - his original name was Móric Bloch.
From 1831 he studied at the Talmud-school of Pápa [Hungary], later on he studied philosophy in Nagyvárad and Pápa [Hungary]. Later, he studied in the Universities of Pest and Paris. Returning to Hungary, he published the first Jewish translation of the Torah into Hungarian. After severe disagreements with the leaders of the Hungarian Jewry, he converted into the Lutheran church, and later on, into Calvinism. From 1855 he became professor of Bible at the Reformed Theological Academy of Pest. From 1858, he was member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Ballagi died in Budapest on 1. September 1891.
Books