Marcus Sachs

Marcus Sachs (1812–1869) was a Polish Jew who emigrated to Scotland and became Professor of Hebrew at the Free Church Divinity Hall in Aberdeen (later known as Christ's College).^[1]

Life

He was born the son of an engineer in Inowroclaw in the Grand Duchy of Posen in what is now central Poland. He studied at Berlin University.^[2]

He came to Britain in 1842 and converted to Christianity. He was baptised by Rev John Brown at Broughton Place church soon after arriving.^[3] He enrolled to train as a Free Church minister at New College, Edinburgh in 1843. He began teaching Hebrew at the Free Church College in Aberdeen in 1846. He was made a Professor in 1855.^[4]

He lived his final years at Kepplestone Cottage in Rubislaw, Aberdeen.^[5]

He died at Polmuir in Aberdeen on 29 September 1869.^[6]

Family

In 1850, somewhat late in life, he married Mary Shier (1809-1915) a few years his senior. She was the daughter of David Shier, a surveyor in Aberdeen. They married at Old Machar, and did not have children. She married after he died, Francis Edmond, a Haddington advocate. She also outlived her second husband and died in Cardiff aged 105, leaving a considerable fortune.^[7]

Publications

• The Prophetic Agency (1855)
• The Scattered Nation (joint author with Rev Adolph Saphir)