Rebecca Gratz

Philanthropist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The daughter of prosperous merchant Michael Gratz, she helped found the Philadelphia Orphan Society (1815). In 1838 she founded the first Hebrew Sunday School Society and was its president until 1864. She is said to have been the inspiration for Rebecca in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe.

Rebecca Gratz (March 4, 1781 - August 27, 1869) was an American educator and philanthropist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Gratz was elected secretary of the Female Association for the Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances in 1801. She soon saw the need for an institution for orphans in Philadelphia and she was among those instrumental in founding the Philadelphia Orphan Asylum, in 1815. Gratz was also one of the founding members of the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society, around November 1819.

Gratz is said to have been the model of Rebecca, the heroine of the novel Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. Scott's attention had been drawn to Gratz' character by Washington Irving, who was a close friend of the Gratz family. The claim has been disputed, but it has also been well sustained in an article entitled The Original of Rebecca in Ivanhoe, which appeared in The Century Magazine, 1882, pp.

Though Gratz was considered to be among the more beautiful and educated women in her community, she was never married.

Gratz is buried at Mikveh Israel Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.