author
Alexander McCaul
1799–1863
A 19th-century Irish Hebraist and missionary, he spent years studying Hebrew and Jewish texts in Poland and became known for his energetic religious writing and teaching in London.
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About the author
Born in Dublin in 1799, Alexander McCaul studied at Trinity College Dublin and was sent to Poland by the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews. In Warsaw he learned Hebrew and German, beginning the deep engagement with Jewish language and literature that shaped his career.
After returning to England and being ordained, he went back to Warsaw to lead mission work and later settled in London. There he published Old Paths, a weekly series on Jewish ritual and belief, became principal of the Hebrew college founded by the London Society, and later served as professor of Hebrew and rabbinical literature at King's College London.
McCaul was also a Church of England clergyman, serving London parishes and eventually becoming a prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral. He died in London in 1863. Modern scholars remember him as a learned and influential, if often controversial, figure in 19th-century Jewish-Christian debate.