David Werner Amram (May 16, 1866 – June 27, 1939) was a prominent lawyer and legal scholar, as well as an early American

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

. Born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, he received a B.A. from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1887, and an LL.B. from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and oldes ...

in 1889. He later served as a member of the law school faculty, where he was eventually joined by his son,

Philip Werner Amram Philip Werner Amram (1900 – 1990) was an American lawyer and legal scholar. Education Amram received a Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1920, and a Bachelor of Science in agriculture from Pennsylv ...

. He is also noted for his biblical and talmudic scholarship, and published numerous books on the subject, including ''The Jewish Law of Divorce According to Bible and Talmud'' (1896), ''Leading Cases in the Bible'' (1905). His most famous book, ''The Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy'' (1909), details the earliest history of Hebrew book printing, including the first complete edition of the Talmud published by

Daniel Bomberg Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

in the early sixteenth century. Amram was among the earliest adherents of the Zionist movement. He served as a director of the Federation of American Zionists, and as an editor of ''

The Maccabean ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', the official publication of the

Zionist Organization of America The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) () is an American non-profit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th centur ...

References

Biographical Sketch of David Werner Amram
1866 births 1939 deaths American Zionists University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Pennsylvania lawyers Lawyers from Philadelphia American legal scholars {{US-legal-academic-bio-stub