Isidoro Epstein

Isidoro (b. Isaac) Epstein was born into an Ashkenazic family in Hofgeismar, a city in Hesse-Kassel, part of the German Confederation. A mathematician and engineer, he emigrated to Mexico in the wake of the 1848 revolutions in Europe. He was a founder of the German press in Mexico and in 1872 began publishing Vorwärts (Forward), a periodical named after the official newspaper of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, which advocated the emancipation and assimilation of Jews. Epstein never renounced his Jewish identity or his German heritage, but he became a Mexican citizen, taking an active role in the country’s civic and political life. In articles designed to loosen the power of the Catholic Church there, Epstein satirized the Bible, believing that education would pave the way to a modern society. As a Jew serving in prestigious posts, he became an important symbol of progressive secularism in Mexico and worked to combat antisemitism.