Mendel Levin Nathanson

Merchant and editor
Mendel Levin Nathanson was a Danish merchant and economist. He was born in Altona, then part of Denmark, and at the age of 12 he went to Copenhagen to join his relatives. When only eighteen years of age Nathanson established himself in business as a wholesale draper and until 1831 was a prosperous businessman. In 1806 he became associated with the large Copenhagen banking firm of Meyer & Trier. After this firm failed in 1831, Nathanson devoted himself to economic questions. Under his editorship of the “Berlingske Tidende”, from 1838 to 1858 and from 1865 to 1866, it was the leading newspaper in Denmark.

Nathanson devoted much of his energy to the betterment of his coreligionists. In 1805, in Copenhagen, he founded the Jewish Free School for boys, and five years later a similar school for girls. He also had a large share in the Danish government’s edict of March 29, 1814 which gave the Jews equal rights.