According to the online Encyclopedia Britannica, Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885) was “an Italian-born businessman who was noted for his philanthropy and support of Jewish rights.” In the England to which he was brought as a child, he became an investor of such genius that he retired from the investment business at 40 and dedicated himself and his wealth to other enterprises, including befriending rulers he then persuaded to deal more justly with his religious brethren.
In 1840, he secured from the Sultan of Egypt the release of Damascus Jews falsely accused of a blood libel, and in the same year, convinced the Ottoman Sultan to grant Jews the same rights as other non-Muslims in his lands. In 1844, he even managed to get the reactionary Czar Nicholas I to ease up on the persecution of Russian Jews. In all this, Montefiore embodied the maxim that great wealth confers great responsibilities.
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