Abraham Aaron Roback (1890–1965) was a Jewish American psychologist and promoter of
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
.
Life
A. A. Roback was born on 19 June 1890 in
Goniondz,
Russian Empire (now Poland). He was the youngest of four children of Isaac Roback and Leba Rahver. The family emigrated to
Montreal in 1892, where he attended public schools. He graduated from
McGill University in 1912, having studied philosophy with
J.W.A. Hickson Joseph William Andrew Hickson (1873–1956) was a Canadian psychologist and mountaineer. As a mountaineer, he is the first to ascend 30 major peaks including Pinnacle Mountain, Mount St. Bride, Mount Chephren, Mount Sir Douglas, Mount Fifi, Mount ...
and experimental psychology with
William Dunlop Tait William Dunlop Tait (1880-1945) was the founder of the Department of Psychology at McGill University. He served as the Department Head from 1924 to his death in 1944.
Originally from Nova Scotia, he earned his bachelor's degree at Dalhousie Univers ...
. He studied for a PhD under
Hugo Münsterberg
Hugo Münsterberg (; June 1, 1863 – December 16, 1916) was a German-American psychologist. He was one of the pioneers in applied psychology, extending his research and theories to industrial/organizational (I/O), legal, medical, clinical, edu ...
at
Harvard University,
where he later taught for several years. He also taught at the
University of Pittsburgh,
Northeastern University
Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...
,
Clark University and
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
[Dr. A. A. Roback, Noted Psychologist and Strong Supporter of Yiddish. Dead]
'' JTA'', 8 June 1965.
Roback built a 10,000 volume Yiddish library for Harvard, and in 1929 introduced the first US academic course in
Yiddish literature for the Massachusetts University Extension. He died in
Cambridge, Massachusetts on June 7, 1965.
[
]
References
External links
*
Abraham Aaron Roback papers
(MS Am 2518) at Houghton Library, Harcard University, Cambridge, MA
Abraham Aaron Roback papers
(RG 596) at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York, NY
Abraham Aaron Roback collection
at the Canadian Jewish Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roback, Abraham
20th-century American psychologists
Yiddish culture in the United States
Harvard University alumni
History of YIVO
1890 births
1965 deaths
McGill University alumni