GRATZ, HEINRICH (18 i 7-1891), German-Jewish histo rian, was born at Xions, Posen, on Oct. 31; 1817, and died at Mu nich on Sept. 7, 1891. He received a desultory education, but spent three years at Oldenburg as assistant and pupil of S. R. Hirsch. He matriculated in 1842 at Breslau, then the headquar ters of Abraham Geiger, the leader of Jewish reform, whose atti tude repelled him. Gratz remained a conservative, in spite of the radical views on the Bible and tradition which made him an op ponent of Hirsch. He fought for freedom of thought, but not of ritual practice. In 1853 he became famous by the publication of the fourth volume of his history of the Jews, in which he dealt with the Talmud. In 1869 he became a professor of Breslau university. His Geschichte der Juden (II vols. 1853-1875, Eng. trs. 5 vols. is a work of genius, in spite of his somewhat biassed judgments, and in particular his lack of sympathy with 'Sydney Smith's Works, ii. 166-167.
mysticism. Gratz was also a considerable biblical critic.
A full bibliography of Gratz's works and a memoir are given in the Jewish Quarterly Review iv., 194. A full memoir was prefixed to the "index" volume of the History in the American re-issue of the English translation (6 vols. Philadelphia, 1898).