Name Raphael Hannover | Role Mathematician | |
Died May 17, 1779, Hanover, Germany | ||
Raphael Levi Hannover (1685 – May 17, 1779) was a German mathematician and astronomer. The son of Jacob Joseph, Hannover was born at Weikersheim, Franconia in 1685. He was educated at the Jewish school of Hanover and at the yeshivah of Frankfurt am Main, and became bookkeeper in the firm of Simon Wolf Oppenheimer in Hanover. Here he attracted the attention of Leibniz, and for a number of years was one of his most distinguished pupils (including last secretary), and afterward teacher of mathematics, astronomy, and natural philosophy. He also corresponded with Moses Mendelssohn.
Raphael Levi Hannover wrote: "Luhot ha-'Ibbur," astronomical tables for the Jewish calendar; "Tekunat ha-Shamayim," on astronomy and calendar-making, especially commenting on the Talmudical passages on these topics, with glosses of Moses Tiktin. An enlarged revision of the latter work, with two other astronomical works of his, is in manuscript. The "Luhot ha-'Ibbur" has been published with M. E. Furth's "Yir'at Shamayim," on Maimonides' "Yad," Kiddush ha-Hodesh. He died in Hanover in 1779.