He was born on 22 December 1781 in
Prague,
Bohemia. He was one of the earliest and most prominent of the large manufacturers of Austria, and was very closely associated with his younger brother,
Leopold Judah Porges. Moses and Leopold, the sons of the highly respected but poor
Gabriel Porges of the
Spira family, experienced adventures in the camp of the sectarian
Jacob Frank at
Offenbach which have been described by
Heinrich Graetz in his
Frank und die Frankisten (1868) and his
Gesch, and in greater detail by Dr. S. Back in
Monatsschrift (1877, pp. 190). Disillusioned, they returned to Prague, and began a small linen business, and in 1808 commenced, with a single cotton-printing press and in a dark shop on the
Vltava, an industrial activity which was destined later to reach great dimensions. In 1830 the rapidly growing business was transferred to the suburb of Smíchov, where it developed into one of the largest establishments of the
Austrian monarchy, and in 1841 the emperor
Ferdinand I of Austria conferred upon the brothers the patent of hereditary nobility with the title "von Portheim", in recognition of the fact that they were the first cotton-manufacturers to employ steam in their works. When this patent had been offered Moses in the previous year, he asked the
Supreme Burgrave of Bohemia Karl, Count Chotek of Chotkow and Wognin for a decree of emancipation of the
Jews instead, but this request was not granted. Moses later purchased and operated the
porcelain factory at
Chodov together with the mines belonging to it, and after the passage of the laws of 1861 he and his brother entered politics, the latter being elected to the diet, while the former officiated for several years as vice-burgomaster of Prague-Smíchov. The most noteworthy among the numerous benefactions of Moses Porges is the still existing
crèche, which, without distinction of creed or nationality, for eight months of the year, receives and cares for 150 children daily while their parents are at work. Towards the end of his life Moses Porges wrote memoirs of his adventures at Offenbach. The life of Moses Porges is part of the plot of the historical novel
Harfeník by
Jiří Weil. ==Sources==