Frank, Eva

Frank was the daughter of the Jewish false messiah Jacob Frank (born Jacob Leibowicz) (1726-91), whose movement was an outgrowth of that of Sabbatai Zvi in the previous century. In 1756 Frank converted to Catholicism (he had already converted to Islam). His wife was given the title "Matronita" (Holy Mother), and elevated to divine status. While he was imprisoned near Czestochowa in 1770 his wife died and Eva inherited her title and status.

In addition, Frank now claimed that she was not their child at all, but the illegitimate daughter of Empress Catherine the Great of Russia and an unknown father. There is no evidence to support this story. When Frank himself died in 1791 Eva became head of the movement, now headquartered in Offenbach, Germany, until she died in 1816. The Frankists were an important force in the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe; a large number emigrated to the USA in the mid-19th century, including the family of Chief Justice Louis Brandeis. There are few if any Frankists living now.

References

Freely, John. The Lost Messiah: In Search of Sabbatai Sevi. (London: Viking, 2001)
Greenfield, T. Allen. "The Frankist Ecstatics of the Eighteenth Century," Agape, 1 (2) 1998. Also available at: http://www.porges.net/porges/Frankists.html (the html version includes transcriptions of other sources on the Frankists)

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