Hartvig Philip Rée

Hartvig Philip Rée (12 October 1778 – 1 October 1859) was a Danish Jewish merchant and author who built a large shipping and trade business to become one of the wealthiest people of his time. He created the first Jewish cemetery and synagogue in Aarhus at a time when Jews were frequently discriminated against and the Jewish population was negligible. He published a number of written works, mostly related to Jewish theology but also dealing with broader subjects such as economy. He married his cousin Thamar (Therese) Rée on 12 March 1804 and they had two children, Anton Rée og Bernhard Rée.^[1][2][3]

Rée was born in Fredericia to the German merchant Philip Hartvig Rée (1744–99) and his wife Hanna Hartvig (1759–1830) who had immigrated from Hamburg. His parents were spiritually inclined and especially had a desire to study Jewish traditions nad history. His father hired tutors and teachers from abroad to teach his children. In combination Rée was given a thorough education in trade which was completed with several-years long stay in Hamburg with his uncle. Rée eventually had to take over his father's business sooner than expected when his father died in 1799. Hartvig Philip Rée quickly moved his father's business to Aarhus and opened a branch in Randers. He got involved in shipping and started importing coal, iron, salt and hops and exporting grain, wool, fur and hides. He established a sugar refinery, a print shop, a dye business and a clothes factory in Randers. Rée became the wealthiest person in Aarhus, according to tax records, and he owned a large mansion by the Aarhus River where he created a large romanticist garden that became famous at his time.^[4][5]'

Rée published a number of works, mainly concerned with religious philosophy and theology. He was a proponent of a liberal interpretation of Jewish theology and reforms of Jewish traditions which he defended in a number of publications in German and Danish. He also published an interpretation of John's Revelation, wrote of national economy and occasionally some poetry. When his wife Thamar Rée died he lost interest in his business and moved to Copenhagen where he spent the rest of his life in a modest apartment, continuing his studies.^[1]

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