Joseph Wolff (1795 – 2 May 1862) was a Jewish Christian missionary born in Weilersbach, near Bamberg, Germany, named Wolff after his paternal grandfather. He travelled widely, and was known as "the missionary to the world". He published several journals of his expeditions, including Travels and Adventures of Joseph Wolff (2 vols, London, 1860). Early life Wolff was born to David Wolff (b. 1760) and his wife in 1795. David Wolff became a rabbi in Weilersbach in 1794, and also served in Kissingen, Halle upon Saale and Uehlfeld, moving to Jebenhausen, Württemberg in 1806, from where he sent his son to the Lutheran lyceum at Stuttgart. Wolff's initial interest in Christianity came about through hearing conversations between his father and Jewish friends, but since he was not happy with his father's concept of Jesus, he began standing outside churches and listening to the sermons. In his writings (written in the third person), Wolff told about his early conviction that Jesus is the Messiah: "When only seven years old, he was boasting to an aged Christian neighbour of the future triumph of Israel at the advent of the Messiah, when the old man said kindly, 'Dear boy, I will tell you who the real Messiah was: he was Jesus of Nazareth, whom your ancestors crucified, as they slew the prophets of old. Go home and read the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, and you will be convinced that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' Conviction at once fastened upon him. He went home and read the scripture, wondering to see how perfectly it had been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Were the words of the Christian true? The boy asked of his father an explanation of the prophecy, but was met with a silence so stern that he never again dared to refer to the subject. This however only increased his desire to know more of the Christian religion." At the age of 11, a conversation with a Christian neighbour led to Wolff's decision to leave home in order to find truth for himself, resulting in six years of travel, visiting various Christian establishments and learned theologians and teachers, including Christian Frederick of Stolberg-Wernigerode. He became a Roman Catholic near Prague in September 1812, taking on the name Joseph. Four years later, he arrived in Rome, where he began training as a missionary at the seminary of the Collegio Romano. His