Cabinet photograph of Moses Aaron Dropsie.

Moses Aaron Dropsie (1821-1905) was born in Philadelphia, the son of a Dutch Jewish immigrant father and an American Christian mother. He underwent a halachic conversion aged 14 and cultivated a lifelong interest in Judaism, actively seeking to further its interests. Successful in business, Dropsie utilized his wealth to singular philanthropic effect. An ally and admirer of Isaac Leeser, Dropsie involved himself in all manner of Philadelphia's Jewish communal and educational pursuits. Following his death, Dropsie's estate provided funds for the creation of The Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning, an institution that made a substantial imprint upon American-Jewish scholarship well into the 20th-century.1885.