Isaacs

the grave of his father at West Point, N. Y. He
was survived by his widow, two sons, and a
daughter. Irwin was decorated by France with
the Legion of Honor and the Croix de Guerre,
and by the United States with the Distinguished
Service Medal.
[Chicago Tribune and Army and Navy Register of

Reg. Officers and' C

(1901-30); archives of the Asso. of Grads., U. S. Mil.

Acad.] C.D.R,

ISAACS, ABRAM SAMUEL (Aug. 30,1851-
Dec. 22, 1920), son of Samuel Myer Isaacs
[#.#.] and Jane (Symmons) Isaacs, was born in
New York City, and died in Paterson, N. J. The
pattern of his life was determined by the ardent
interest in Jewish literature and Jewish life
which characterized his home. After receiving
the degree of A.B. in 1871 and that of A.M. in
1874 from the University of the City of New
York, he continued his studies in the University
of Breslau and the Jewish Theological Seminary
of that city, speciali2ing in German literature
and Semitics. On his return to America he was
given in 1878 the degree of Ph.D. honoris causa
by the University of the City of New York. He
was married, Apr. 23, 1890, to Lily Lee Harby,
who bore him two sons.

In 1857 his father had founded a weekly paper
in New York, the Jewish Messenger, as an ex-
ponent of traditional Judaism. On his fathers
death in 1878, Isaacs took over the editorship,
which he maintained until the paper was ab-
sorbed by the American Hebrew in 1903. From
1886 to 1894 he was professor of Hebrew, and
from 1887 to 1895 professor of German also in
the University of the City of New York. He was
professor of German literature in the post-grad-
uate department from 1895 to 1906, when he
became professor of Semitics. Besides these
journalistic and professorial duties, he found
time to be minister in the East Eighty-Sixth
Street Synagogue, New York, in 1886 and 1887,
and to serve as preacher in the Barnert Temple
(B'nai Jeshurun) of Paterson, N. J., from 1896
to 1905. He also lectured extensively through
the country. In addition, he produced a steady
stream of books. Among these should be men-
tioned: A Modern Hebrew Poet: The Life and
Writings of Moses Chaim Luzsatto (1878),
What is Judaism? A Survey of Jewish Life,
Thought and Achievement (1912), and the fol-
lowing books for juvenile readers: Stories from
Rabbis (1893, 2nd edition 1911), Step by Step:
a Story of the Early Days of Moses Mendelssohn
(1910), The Young Champion: One Year in
Grace Aguilar's Girlhood (1913), Under the

Isaacs

Sabbath Lamp: Stories of Our Time for Old
and Young (1919), School Days in Heine Town
(1928), and he edited The Old Guard and Other
Addresses (1906),by his brother Myer S. Isaacs.
He left a valuable manuscript work on Schiller,
which is as yet unpublished. In 1907 he edited
the Jewish department, and in 1919 the Semitic
department of The Encyclopedia Americana.
Hundreds of journalistic articles, book reviews
in the New York Times and Bookman, and many
charming poems, must be mentioned to complete
the record.

His simple literary style reflects the modest sim-
plicity of the man. He had the gift of terse
and interesting presentation both as teacher and
as writer. The mantle of scholarship he wore
with the light grace of an urbane gentleman of
innate refinement, broad culture, and fine taste
in letters, art, and the art of living. Perhaps the
principle determinant of his character was a
Jewish religious loyalty and deep spiritual feel-
ing. These came to expression in well wrought
hymns, some of which have been adopted by the
Synagogue.

[Joshua Bloch, N. Y. Univ. Alumnus, Mar. 1921;
Pubs. Am. Jewish Hist. Soc.t vol. XXXI (1928) ; Na-
than Stern, in Central Conference of Am. Rabbis, Thir-
ty-Second Ann. Convention, vol. XXXI (1921); Gen.
Alumni Cat. of N. Y. Univ. 1833-1905, College, Applied
Science and Honorary Alumni (1906) ; J. L. Chamber-
lain, N. Y. Univ. (1901), pt. II; Jewish Exponent, Dec.
31, 1920; N. Y. Times, Dec. 24, 1920; Who's Who in
America, 1920-21.] D. deS. P.

ISAACS, SAMUEL MYER (Jan. 4, 1804-
May 19, 1878), rabbi and journalist, was born
at Leeuwarden, in the Netherlands. In 1814, his
father, Myer Samuel Isaacs, ruined by Napo-
leonic wars, moved with his family to London.
There the former banker became a rabbi, and de-
voted his five sons to the synagogue. Four of
the five, including Samuel, entered the rabbinate.
While a young man in England, Samuel was the
head of the Neveh Zedek orphan asylum. In
1839 he was called to New York to be rabbi of
the B'nai Jeshurun Synagogue. Eight years
later, he became the spiritual leader of Congre-
gation Shaaray Tefila, a secession group from
B'nai Jeshurun, and remained its minister until
his death. Shortly before coming to America he
had married Jane Symmons of London. Among
his children were Judge Myer S. Isaacs, presi-
dent of the board of delegates of American Is-
raelites, one of the originators and organizers
of the United Hebrew Charities of New York
City, and president of the Baron de Hirsch Fund,
Isaac S. Isaacs, a lawyer and a prime mover in
organizing the Young Men's Hebrew Associa-
tion of New York, and Abram S. Isaacs [q.v.].
Samuel Isaacs was largely responsible for mak-

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