Salomon Maimons Lebensgeschichte – Salomon Maimon’s Life Story

Salomon Maimon's Lebensgeschichte. Von ihm selbst geschrieben und herausgegeben von K.[arl] P.[hilipp] Moritz. Berlin 1792-1793. German | Call Number: 80/Ka 54 80 | Digital copy via Frankfurt's Digital Judaica Collections.

Salomon Maimon (1753–1800) was born in Lithuania as Shlomo ben Joshua. At the age of 14, he was already a father and employed as a Melamed . Maimon taught himself the German language from books. In his mid-twenties, he left his family and community for Central Europe eventually settling in Berlin in 1780. He established a close relationship with Moses Mendelssohn and entered the social and communal spheres of the Haskalah in Berlin. In the late 1780s, Maimon became acquainted with Kantian philosophy. Salomon Maimons Lebensgeschichte recounts Maimon's life in the second half of the 18th century. The detailed autobiography was an example of a still-new literary genre . Maimon's work also served as an important document about the history of Hasidism and Polish Jewry. The author frequently criticized his contemporaries, both Jews and Christians. The book included various essays and notes by Maimons as part of the appendices. Among them is Maimon's discussion of Maimonides' Moreh Nevukhim, his thoughts on  the history of the Jews, and various explorations on his philosophy.