Samson Wertheimer
| Samson Wertheimer | |
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Rabbi Samson Wertheimer (1658–1724)
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 17, 1658 Worms, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | August 6, 1724 (aged 66) Vienna, Austria |
Samson Wertheimer (January 17, 1658 – August 6, 1724) was chief rabbi of Hungary and Moravia, and rabbi of Eisenstadt. He was also an Austrian financier, court Jew and Shtadlan to Austrian Emperor Leopold I.
Wertheimer was born in Worms, the son of Joseph Josel Wertheimer (1626 – May 2, 1713), and received his education at the yeshivas of Worms and Frankfurt am Main.
He arrived in Vienna on December 2, 1684, and associated himself with the banker Samuel Oppenheimer, sharing the latter's privilege of residence. During the absence of Oppenheimer, Wertheimer represented him in transactions with the Austrian government. Wertheimer soon gained the confidence of Emperor Leopold I, who presented a portrait of himself to Wertheimer and his son Wolf, and on December 15, 1701, followed this gift with another of 1,000 ducats for the financier's success in obtaining for the daughter of the King of Poland a dowry of 1,000,000 florins from her father upon her marriage to Leopold's brother-in-law Duke Charles Philip.
In the Spanish War of Succession Wertheimer united with Samuel Oppenheimer to procure the money necessary for the equipment of the imperial army and for the supply of provisions. After Oppenheimer's failure, and his sudden death in 1703, Wertheimer maintained the credit of the state and found new sources of income. On August 29, 1703, the emperor appointed him court factor, and extended for twenty years his privileges of free religious worship, denizenship, and immunity from taxation. Joseph I, who succeeded his father on May 5, 1705, confirmed Wertheimer's title and privileges.
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