Akiva Eiger

Noted for his brilliance as a child, he became a scholar of halakhah and was the rabbi of the large Jewish community of Posen for the last twenty years of his life. He was a staunch opponent of the nascent Reform movement and the introduction of secular studies into Jewish schools, but he is best known for his many sharp comments on the Talmud and on the Shulchan Arukh. He adopted his uncle's last name to honor him for teaching him Torah early in life.