Max Seligsohn (April 13, 1865 – April 11, 1923 Manhattan) was an American Orientalist, born in

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

. Having received his

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

nical training at Slutsk, government ('' guberniya'') of Minsk, he went in 1888 to New York City, where he studied modern languages till 1894, in which year he went to Paris to study Oriental languages, especially Semitic studies ("'' élève diplômé''" of the '' École des Langues Orientales'', 1897, and of the '' École des Hautes Études'', 1900). In 1898 he was sent by the Alliance Israélite Universelle to Abyssinia to inquire into the conditions of the Falashas; but, certain difficulties arising, he was able to proceed no farther than Cairo, where he taught for eighteen months. Returning to Paris, he was invited in 1902 to go to New York to become a member of the staff of office editors of ''The

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''.

Literary works

* "''Le Diwan de Ṭarafah ibn al-'Abd''" (Paris, 1900), a translation from the Arabic into French, with notes and an introduction; a French translation of "''Kitab al-Raml''," an Arabic work on geomancy, with preface and notes * (with

E. N. Adler Elkan Nathan Adler (24 July 1861 in St Luke's, Islington, St Luke's, London – 15 September 1946 in London) was an English people, English author, lawyer, historian, and collector of Jewish books and manuscripts. Adler's father was Nathan Marcus A ...

) "''Une Nouvelle Chronique Samaritaine''," Paris, 1903 * (as contributor) "'' Jewish Quarterly Review''" and the "'' Revue des Etudes Juives''", mostly on Judæo-Persian literature

External links

"Seligsohn, Max"
by Cyrus Adler and Frederick T. Haneman. ''

'', 1906. 1865 births 1923 deaths American orientalists Jewish orientalists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Linguists from France Linguists from Russia Russian Arabists Russian Hebraists American encyclopedists {{Russia-linguist-stub