From Budapest to Jerusalem

Ignaz Goldziher’s Library and the Founding of Islamic Studies in Israel

Samuel Thrope

As soon as Hungarian-Jewish scholar Ignaz Goldziher died in 1921, governments across the world began scheming how to get hold of his unique personal library. For decades, Goldziher had been the leading European authority on Islam, and was one of the founders of the modern field of Islamic Studies. His groundbreaking research was made possible by his unique research collection: 6000 volumes in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, German, French, English, and a host of other languages on all aspects of Islamic civilization, as well as linguistics, Judaica, and Hebrew literature. In the end, Goldziher's Library came to Jerusalem to found the Islamic Studies collection of the National Library and the Hebrew University; it remains the core of the National Library of Israel's Islam and Middle East Collection today.

This talk will explore how Goldziher's books came to Jerusalem, and why acquiring this collection was so important to the Zionist movement.

Samuel Thrope is the Curator of the Islam and Middle East Collection at the National Library of Israel. His latest book is a translation, with Domenico Agostini, of the Zoroastrian creation myth the Bundahishn.

‍

Tuesday, 21 December, 8 pm Israel / 7 pm CET / 6 pm UK / 1 pm EST

From Budapest to Jerusalem

Ignaz Goldziher’s Library and the Founding of Islamic Studies in Israel

Samuel Thrope

As soon as Hungarian-Jewish scholar Ignaz Goldziher died in 1921, governments across the world began scheming how to get hold of his unique personal library. For decades, Goldziher had been the leading European authority on Islam, and was one of the founders of the modern field of Islamic Studies. His groundbreaking research was made possible by his unique research collection: 6000 volumes in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, German, French, English, and a host of other languages on all aspects of Islamic civilization, as well as linguistics, Judaica, and Hebrew literature. In the end, Goldziher's Library came to Jerusalem to found the Islamic Studies collection of the National Library and the Hebrew University; it remains the core of the National Library of Israel's Islam and Middle East Collection today.

This talk will explore how Goldziher's books came to Jerusalem, and why acquiring this collection was so important to the Zionist movement.

Samuel Thrope is the Curator of the Islam and Middle East Collection at the National Library of Israel. His latest book is a translation, with Domenico Agostini, of the Zoroastrian creation myth the Bundahishn.

‍

Tuesday, 21 December, 8 pm Israel / 7 pm CET / 6 pm UK / 1 pm EST