Biography
Schneersohn was born in Lyubavichi, on 2 Iyar 1834, the seventh son of the Tzemach Tzedek. He faced competition from three of his brothers, primarily from Rabbi Yehuda Leib Schneersohn who established a dynasty in Kapust upon their father's death. Other brothers also established dynasties in Lyady, Babruysk, and Nizhyn.
In 1848 Schneersohn was married to the daughter of his brother, Rabbi Chaim Shneur Zalman Schneersohn. After several months she died, and he then married the Rebetzin Rivkah, a granddaughter of Rabbi Dovber Schneuri, the Mitteler Rebbe.
Schneersohn was said to have had chariots on call for the evacuation of books in time of fire.
Besides his communal activism, he had wide intellectual interests. He spoke several languages, including Latin. He wrote widely on a range of religious and secular topics, and much of his writing has never been published and remains in manuscript form alone. His discourses began to be published for the first time under the title Likkutei Torat Shmuel in 1945 by Kehot, and 12 volumes have so far been printed.
He died in Lyubavichi, on 13 Tishrei 1882, leaving four sons and two daughters, and was succeeded by his son Sholom Dovber.
Schneersohn urged the study of kabbala as a prerequisite for one's humanity:
A person who is capable of comprehending the Seder hishtalshelus (kabbalistic secrets concerning the higher spiritual spheres) - and fails to do so - cannot be considered a human being. At every moment and time one must know where his soul stands. It is a mitzvah (commandment) and an obligation to know the seder hishtalshelus.
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