DRACH, David Paul. - Hebraist, b. at Strasbourg on 16 March 1791, d. at Rome in January 1865. Son of a noted rabbi and Talmudist, at the age of twelve he attended the Talmudic school at Edenfor and then that at Bischheim. At sixteen he was instructor at Rappoltsweiler, later at Colmar. In 1808 he was in Paris, where he received the title of rabbi; there, moved by the example of some Catholic families he had occasion to frequent, he engaged in long and rigorous studies, especially of the Church Fathers and the Septuagint, and was converted. He was baptized on Holy Saturday 1823, together with two daughters and a son; and this conversion of his led to many others. In 1827 he came to Rome, where he remained as librarian of the Propaganda until his death.
To carry out his apostolate among his former coreligionists, D. wrote *Les lettres d'un rabbin converti aux Israélites, ses frères* (Paris 1825); and the Libermann brothers (v.) declared themselves indebted to D. for their conversion. A convinced supporter of the inspiration of the sacred books, he defended their traditional interpretation. He supervised the 5th ed. of the *Bible de Vence* (27 vols., ibid. 1827-33). He also wrote: *Du divorce dans la synagogue* (Rome 1840); *Harmonie entre l'église et la synagogue* (Paris 1844), *La Cabale des Hébreux* (Rome 1864). He revised the Hebrew-Latin dictionary of Gesenius and added to it his own Chaldean-Hebrew dictionary (ed. Migne, Paris 1848).
His son Paul-Auguste, b. at Paris in 1821 and d. there in 1895, studied at the Propaganda (Rome). Ordained priest in 1846, later canon of Notre-Dame, he promoted the extensive commentary *La Sainte Bible* of the publisher Lethielleux (Paris 1869, 1899), in which he published *Épîtres de st Paul* (1871), *Épîtres catholiques* (1873), *Apocalypse* (1879).