Israel Zinberg

Israel Zinberg
Zinberg jeune.
Born	December 1873, 1872, 1873
Died	January 1939, 1938, 1939  (aged 65–66)
Occupation	Literary historian

Israel Zinberg (also known as Yisroel Tsinberg; born Sergei Lazarevich Tsinberg) (1873-1939) was a Russian-Jewish chemist and a historian of Jewish literature born in Rivne.[1][2] His works are considered significant in European Jewish Yiddish scholarship. Alumnus of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology,[3] Zinberg was not a professional historian by background or training, but worked as a chemical engineer in Petrograd and pursued literary history as an "avocation."[4] He was a member of the St. Petersburg school of Jewish scholars along with Simon Dubnow.[1] He drew on the works of Moritz Steinschneider and Ber Borokhov as well as Solomon Birnbaum, Maks Erik [pl], and Max Weinreich.[5] Zinberg's work is foundational to the field of Old Yiddish literary studies.[6]

In 1938, NKVD arrested Zinberg for Anti-Soviet agitation (Article 58 of the RSFSR Penal Code).[7] The same year, he died in Vladivostok.[8] Mark Wischnitzer believed he didn't die until 1943. [1]

Publications

• Zinberg, Israel (1973). A History of Jewish Literature. Press of Case Western Reserve University. ISBN 978-0-8295-0241-1. (multiple volumes)
  • Zinberg, Israel (1972). A history of Jewish literature. Internet Archive. Cleveland : Press of Case Western Reserve University. ISBN 978-0-8295-0228-2.
  • "A history of Jewish literature". Internet Archive. 1972. Retrieved 2024-10-07.

References

1. Wischnitzer, Mark (1943). "Sergey (Israel) Zinberg (1873-1943)". Jewish Social Studies. 5 (4): 411–413. ISSN 0021-6704. JSTOR 4464552.
2. "YIVO | Tsinberg, Yisroel". yivoencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
3. Российский сионизм: история и культура : материалы научной конференции (in Russian). Еврейское агентство в России. 2002. p. 166. ISBN 978-5-8064-0637-9.
4. Martin, Bernard (1975). "Israel Zinberg and His Geshikhte Fun Der Literatur Bay Yidn". Hebrew Abstracts. 16: 19–23. ISSN 0438-895X. JSTOR 27908133.
5. Frakes, Jerold C. (1990). "Review of Jiddische Sprachgeschichte: Versuch einer neuen Grundlegung". The German Quarterly. 63 (2): 288–289. doi:10.2307/406353. ISSN 0016-8831. JSTOR 406353.
6. "Yiddish Literature Before 1800". obo. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
7. Элиасберг, Галина (2005). --Один из прежнего Петербурга: С.Л. Цинберг--историк евреиской литературы, критик и публицист (in Russian). Российский гос. гуманитарный университет. p. 140. ISBN 978-5-7281-0844-3.
8. Васильков, Я. В. (2003). Люди и судьбы: биобиблиографический словарь востоковедов--жертв политического террора в советский период (1917-1991) (in Russian). Петербургское Востоковедение. p. 404. ISBN 978-5-85803-225-0.