Rebecca Gratz (1781 - abt. 1869)

Born 4 Mar 1781 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States [uncertain]

Ancestors

Died about 1869 at about age 87 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

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== Biography ==

Rebecca was born about 1781. She is the daughter of Michael Gratz and Miriam Simon. She was a Jewish American educator and philanthropist in 19th-century America. At the age of 20, Rebecca, helped establish the Female Association for the Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances, which helped women whose families were suffering after the American Revolutionary War. In 1815, after seeing the need for an institution for orphans in Philadelphia, she was among those instrumental in founding the Philadelphia Orphan Asylum. Gratz is said to have been the model of Rebecca, the daughter of the Jewish merchant Isaac of York, who is the heroine in the novel Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott.[1] Scott's attention had been drawn to Gratz's character by Washington Irving, who was a close friend of the Gratz family. Gratz never married. Among the marriage offers she received was one from a Gentile whom she loved but ultimately chose not to marry on account of her faith.

== Sources ==

• THE ORIGINAL OF SCOTT'S REBECCA Author(s): Joseph Jacobs Source: Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, 1914, No. 22 (1914), pp. 53-60 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43057926
• SOME JEWISH FACTORS IN THE SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST Author(s): Max J. Kohler Source: Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, 1907, No. 16 (1907), pp. 23-35Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43059602
• The Jews of Philadelphia - Their History from the earliest settlements to the Present Time by Henry Samuel Morais c. 1894 - https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Jews_of_Philadelphia/MuLtK9Vl0usC?hl=en&gbpv=0
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Gratz

==Notes==

Ivanhoe, historical romance by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1819. It concerns the life of Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, a fictional Saxon knight. It was also made into a film in 1952, in which Rebecca was portrayed by famous actress Elizabeth Taylor, see https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ivanhoe-novel-by-Scott.

There is no evidence that Rebecca ever married or had any children