Herz, Henriette (1764–1847)
Herz, Henriette (1764–1847)
German writer and Berlin society leader. Name variations: Henrietta Herz. Born Henriette de Lemos in 1764; died in 1847; married Markus or Marcus Herz (1747–1803, a Jewish physician and philosopher); studied many languages.
Born into an Orthodox Jewish family in 1764, Henriette Herz was a childhood friend of the writer, Dorothea Mendelssohn . At 13, Henriette married Marcus Herz, a German physician and philosopher, who provided her education. She went on to become a well-known woman of culture and beauty. As a famous Jewish leader in Berlin society, Herz was the center of a brilliant salon for the greatest intellectuals of her day. Her memoirs and letters were published in 1984 under the title Henriette Herz in Erinnerungen, Briefen und Zeugnissen (Henriette Herz: Memoirs, Letters and Testimonies). Herz converted to Christianity in 1817.