Veil, Lewis (Daniel) CompiÉgne de
VEIL, LEWIS (Daniel) COMPIÉGNE DE
VEIL, LEWIS (Daniel ) COMPIÉGNE DE (1637–?), convert and Hebraist. Veil was the son of a Metz scholar. With his brother Charles-Marie (1630–1685), he was baptized in 1665. Under Colbert, Louis xiv's minister of finance, he translated into French Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, part of which was published in Paris (1678), and he also translated into Latin Abraham *Jagel's Hebrew catechism (London, 1679). He became a Protestant, immigrated to England, and continued to translate Maimonides. His patron, Viscount Hyde, procured for him various payments from Charles ii's secret services accounts (1679–81); the assumption that he was a spy appears unfounded, since these accounts were often used for purposes unconnected with espionage. His son was Sir Thomas de Veil (1684–1746), who became well known as a Bow Street magistrate.
bibliography:
Roth, Mag Bibl, 154, 329, 330, 428; Roth, England, 178; Levy, in; jhsem, 4 (1942), 71–74; E.B. Weill, Weil-De Veil, a Genealogy, 1360 – 1956 (1957).
[Vivian David Lipman]