Hannover, Raphael Levi

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HANNOVER, RAPHAEL LEVI

HANNOVER, RAPHAEL LEVI (1685–1779), mathematician and astronomer. Born in Weikersheim, he worked as a bookkeeper in the house of Oppenheimer in Hanover, where he met the philosopher Leibniz and became his devoted pupil, studying mathematics, astronomy, and natural philosophy. He wrote two books in Hebrew on astronomy: Luḥot ha-Ibbur, astronomical tables for the Jewish calendar (Leiden-Hanover, 1756–7; Dessau, 1831) and Tekhunat ha-Shamayim ve-Khol Ẓeva'am u-Mahalakham (Amsterdam, 1756). He left several unpublished manuscripts.

bibliography:

Zinberg, Sifrut 3 (1957), 306.

[Getzel Kressel]