David Jacob Simonsen ( he, דוד יעקב סימונסן; 17 March 1853 – 15 June 1932) was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. He studied Oriental languages at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

, and received his rabbinical training at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau, one of the centers for "

Wissenschaft des Judentums "''Wissenschaft des Judentums''" (Literally in German the expression means "Science of Judaism"; more recently in the US it started to be rendered as "Jewish Studies" or "Judaic Studies," a wide academic field of inquiry in American Universities) ...

", a movement advocating the scientific study of Jewish history, literature, and culture in addition to the classical sources of Judaism. After his graduation, Simonsen returned to Denmark, where he married Cora Caroline Salomon (1856–1938). He took a position with the and the Great Synagogue of Copenhagen, and after the passing of long-time Chief Rabbi

Abraham Wolff Abraham Alexander Wolff ( he, אברהם אלכסנדר וולף; 29 April 1801 – 3 December 1891) was the chief rabbi of Denmark and translator of the Torah into Danish. Wolff was born in Darmstadt, Hesse-Darmstadt, to the merchant Alexande ...

in 1891, Simonsen was named

chief rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

of Denmark. He served from 1821 to 1902 and again briefly from 1919 to 1920. In 1903, Simonsen was awarded the title of professor by the

. Simonsen's archives reflect the history of several scientific disciplines over a full half century. The list of correspondents contains the names of leading scientists within Oriental and

Jewish Studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; he, מדעי היהדות, madey ha-yahadut, sciences of Judaism) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (esp ...

but also from other areas, such as the classicist

Ada Adler Ada Sara Adler (1878–1946) was a Danish classical scholar and librarian. She is best known for her critical edition of the Byzantine encyclopedia ''Suda'' (5 vols., 1928–38), which still provides the standard text. Biography Adler was born ...

. During World War I, Simonsen acted as "communication central", maintaining all the important contacts in Denmark and abroad, between organisations and individuals. He was also able to relay messages between relatives on different sides of the front, and after the war, he continued to be active in different relief organisations, both in Denmark and abroad. The approximately 25,000 volumes in Hebrew, Yiddish, and several Western European languages, along with 190 volumes of manuscripts in some 15 languages from 20 countries were acquired by The Royal Library in 1932. Simonsen's collection forms the core of the library's Judaica Collection.

References

External links

The Royal Library's website about David Simonsen

David Simonsen
at Gravsted.dk {{DEFAULTSORT:Simonsen, David 1932 deaths 1853 births 20th-century Danish people 20th-century rabbis Danish Jews Danish rabbis