Joseph Günzburg

Joseph Günzburg (Osip Gavrilovich Gintsburg, Осип Гаврилович Гинцбург (or Iosif-Evzel, Иосиф-Евзель); 1812 in Vitebsk – 12 January 1878 in Paris) was a Russian financier and philanthropist who became a baron in 1874.

Having acquired great wealth during the Crimean War, Günzburg established a banking firm at St. Petersburg.

In November 1861, he was appointed by the Russian government as a member of the rabbinical commission, the meetings of which lasted five months.

Owing to Günzburg's efforts, the regulations concerning the military service of the Jews were in 1874 made identical with those of the peoples of other creeds.

He also instituted a fund for the Talmud Torah religious school of Vilna, his father's native town.