Jacob Frank (born Jacob Lejbowicz, 1726–1791) was a Polish-Jewish religious leader who founded the Frankist movement, a radical, antinomian sect emerging from the tradition of Sabbateanism. He is not related to Anne Frank (1929–1945). Claiming to be a new messiah and the successor to Sabbatai Zevi, Frank amassed thousands of followers across Poland and the Ottoman Empire. He controversially led his disciples through conversions, first to Islam and later to Catholicism, often under duress or as a strategic maneuver. Frank advocated a doctrine of "redemption through sin," where salvation was sought by deliberately transgressing traditional religious laws. His teachings and actions led to his imprisonment and later, to his establishment of a court in Offenbach, Germany, where he continued to lead his followers until his death.
