R. Akiva b. Simhah Bunim Eger (c. 1720–1758), rabbi and author, known as R. Akiva Eger the Elder. A native of Halberstadt, he was a pupil of R. Zevi Hirsch Bialeh (Harif) of Halberstadt and R. Jacob ha-Kohen Poppers of Frankfort. Around 1747, he served as rabbi of Zuelz (Upper Silesia). He conducted a yeshivah in Halberstadt even during the lifetime of his teacher Bialeh, and in 1756, became head of the yeshivah of Pressburg. R. Eger, who was among the foremost talmudic scholars of his generation, carried on halakhic correspondence with R. Jonathan Eybeschuetz, R. Meir Eisenstadt, and other prominent rabbis. R. Eger had two sons, R. Judah Loeb, who served as rabbi in Halberstadt, and R. Wolf, rabbi of Leipnick.