Aaron Solomon Gumperz was an influential eighteenth-century Jewish German scholar, physician, and philosopher. Born in 1723, he achieved a historic milestone in March 1751 by graduating with a medical degree from the University of Frankfurt (Oder) after defending his dissertation, Ueber die Temperamente. This achievement made him the first Prussian Jew to obtain a doctoral degree.\n\nBeyond his medical practice, Gumperz is highly regarded for his profound intellectual influence on the Jewish Enlightenment. He served as a key teacher and mentor to the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, introducing him to modern philosophy, Western languages, science, and literature. Gumperz also famously introduced Mendelssohn to the prominent writer and dramatist Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, initially connecting them through their shared interest in chess.\n\nGumperz's own literary and scholarly contributions include a Hebrew calendar for the year 5509 (1748–1749) and Megalleh Sod, a supercommentary on Abraham ibn Ezra's commentary on the Five Scrolls. Although he wrote commentaries for all five, only the section focusing on Ecclesiastes was published during his lifetime in 1765. This publication also featured his philosophical essay on religion and science, Ma'mar ha-Madda', which was later highly recommended by Mendelssohn.
