Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Reich, Emil
REICH, EMIL (1854–1910), historian, son of Louis Reich, was born on 24 March 1854 at Eperjes in Hungary. After early education at Eperjes and Kassa he went to the universities of Prague, Budapest, and Vienna. Until his thirtieth year he 'studied almost exclusively in libraries.' Then 'finding books unsatisfactory for a real comprehension of history, he determined to travel extensively in order to complement the study of books with the study of realities.' In July 1884 Reich, with his parents, his brother, and two sisters, emigrated to America, where after much hardship he was engaged in 1887 by the Appleton firm of New York in preparing their encyclopaedia. On his father's death, his mother and one sister settled in Budapest; the brother and other sister settled in Cincinnati, the one as a photo-engraver, the other as a public school teacher. In July 1889 Reich went to France. At the end of the year he visited England. In February and March 1890 he delivered at Oxford four lectures, subsequently published under the title of 'Græco-Roman Institutions' (Oxford, 1890; French translation, Paris, 1891), in which he attempted to 'disprove the applicableness of Darwinian concepts to the solution of sociological problems.' His theory of the hitherto unsuspected influence of infamia on Roman law at first aroused opposition, but later was developed in England and France. Reich spent his time mainly in France till 1893, when he settled in England for good. There as a writer, as a lecturer to popular and learned audiences in Oxford, Cambridge, and London, and as a coach at Wren's establishment for preparing candidates for the civil service, he displayed remarkable vigour, versatility, and self-confidence. His width of interests appealed to Lord Acton, who described him as 'a universal specialist.' His work, although full of stimulating suggestions, was inaccurate in detail, and omission of essential facts discredited his conclusions. A lover of paradox, and a severe censor of established historical and literary reputations, Reich made useful contributions to historical criticism in his lectures on 'Fundamental Principles of Evidence' and in his 'The Failure of the Higher Criticism of the Bible' (1905), in which he combated modern methods of biblical criticism. Of a 'General History of Western Nations,' the first part on 'Antiquity' was published in two volumes in 1908-9. There Reich waged war on the evolutionist theory of history; he attached little or no importance to race in national history, laid excessive stress on the geopolitical and economic conditions, unduly subordinating the influences of heredity to that of environment. In this work (ii. 339, 340 footnote) Reich unjustifiably charged A. H. J. Greenidge [q. v. Suppl. II] with adopting without acknowledgment some researches of his own; the accusation called forth a stout defence from Greenidge's friends (see The Times, Lit. Suppl. 23 and 30 July, 13 and 20 Aug. 1908). His most successful published work was his 'Hungarian Literature' (1897; 2nd edit. 1906). In the dispute between British Guiana and Venezuela (1895-9) in regard to the Venezuelan boundary, Reich was engaged by the English government to help in the preparation of their case. A course of lectures on Plato at Claridge's Hotel, London, in 1906, which were attended by leading ladies of London society, brought him much public notoriety. He died after a three months' illness at his residence at Notting Hill on 11 Dec. 1910, and was buried at Kensal Green. He married in 1893 Cehne LabuUe of Paris, who, with a daughter, survived him. Reich was fond of music and was an accomplished pianist.
Reich's other published works were : 1. 'History of Civilization,' Cincinnati, 1887. 2. 'New Student's Atlas of English History,' 1903. 3. 'Foundations of Modern Europe,' 1904. 4. 'Success among Nations,’ 1904 (translated into French, Italian, and Spanish). 6. 'Select Documents illustrating Mediæval and Modern History,' 1905. 6. 'Imperialism: its Prices; its Vocation,' 1905 (translated into Russian). 7. 'Plato as an Introduction to Modern Criticism of Life' (lectures delivered at Claridge's Hotel), 1906. 8. 'Success in Life,' 1906. 9. 'Germany's Swelled Head,' Walsall, 1907. 10. 'Atlas Antiquus,' 1908. 11. 'Handbook of Geography, Descriptive and Mathematical,' 2 vols. 1908. 12. 'Woman through the Ages,' 2 vols. 1908. 13. 'Nights with the Gods,' 1909 (a criticism of modern English society). Reich was editor of ’The Hew Classical Library,' and for that series compiled an alphabetical encyclopædia of institutions, persons, and events of ancient history in 1906; he published an abridgment of Dr. Seyffert's 'Dictionary of Classical Antiquities' (1908). He was also a contributor on Hungarian history to the 'Cambridge Modern History,' and on Hungarian literature to the 'Encyclopædia Britannica' (11th edition).
[The Times, 13 Dec. 1910; English Mail, 15 Dec. 1910; Bevándorló, New York, 16 Dec. 1910; information kindly supplied by Mr. Lewis L. Kropf.]