James Kritzeck (born July 6, 1930,

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stear ...

) is an Islamic studies scholar who specialises in

Islamic literature Islamic literature is literature written by Muslim people, influenced by an Islamic cultural perspective, or literature that portrays Islam. It can be written in any language and portray any country or region. It includes many literary forms in ...

and its translation. He was educated at Saint John's Abbey (1945-47), the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

(BA, 1949),

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

(MA, 1952), and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(PhD, 1954); he was elected to the Society of Fellows at

in 1952. As well as travelling through much of the

Islamic world The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...

in order to increase his knowledge of Islamic works, Kritzeck studied Islam through reading and teaching, with (among others)

Henry Corbin Henry Corbin (14 April 1903 – 7 October 1978)Shayegan, DaryushHenry Corbin in Encyclopaedia Iranica. was a French philosopher, theologian, and Iranologist, professor of Islamic studies at the École pratique des hautes études. He was influe ...

Louis Massignon Louis Massignon (25 July 1883 – 31 October 1962) was a Catholic scholar of Islam and a pioneer of Catholic-Muslim mutual understanding. He was an influential figure in the twentieth century with regard to the Catholic church's relationship w ...

and Herbert Mason. He edited ''Anthology of Islamic Literature'', a collection of Islamic writings from the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

up until the 18th century. Ironically a sceptic of translation, Kritzeck strove to include only the finest and most accurate interpretations of poetry and prose. Kritzeck has been Professor of Oriental Studies at Princeton, and a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry at

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

. A special collection in his honor has been established at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at

Saint John's University St John's University may refer to: *St. John's University (New York City) ** St. John's University School of Law **St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus * College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and C ...

in Collegeville, Minnesota.HMML Collection Status
.

References

Major publications

*''Anthology of Islamic Literature: From the Rise of Islam to Modern Times'' by James Kritzeck, *''Islam in Africa'' by James Kritzeck and William Hubert Lewis *''Modern Islamic Literature:from 1800 to the Present'' by James Kritzeck, Holt, Rinehart and Winston *''Sons of Abraham: Jews, Christians and Moslems,'' by James Kritzeck. Baltimore: Helicon, 1965 *''Peter the Venerable and Islam.'' James Kritzeck, Princeton University Press, 1964 *''The World of Islam: Studies in Honour of Philip K. Hitti,'' ed. by Philip Khuri Hitti and James Kritzeck and R. Bayly Winder, Ayer Co Pub, 1930 births Living people People from St. Cloud, Minnesota University of Minnesota alumni Princeton University alumni Harvard Fellows Harvard University alumni {{US-academic-bio-stub