Stephen Sewall (March 24, 1734 – July 23, 1804) was an American professor of
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and
Oriental languages at
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 high ...
. He was a charter member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
(1780) and was considered one of the greatest scholars of his generation.
He replaced
Judah Monis Judah Monis (February 4, 1683April 25, 1764) was North America's first college instructor of the Hebrew language, teaching at Harvard College from 1722 to 1760, and authored the first Hebrew textbook published in North America. Monis was also the f ...
as the lecturer in Hebrew at his alma mater shortly after he graduated in 1761.
References
*
Goldman, Yosef. ''
Hebrew Printing in America, 1735-1926, A History and Annotated Bibliography'' (YGBooks 2006). .
Papers of Stephen Sewall, 1764-1797
Notes
1734 births
1804 deaths
American lexicographers
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Harvard University alumni
Harvard University faculty
Neo-Latin poets
18th-century lexicographers
Linguists from the United States
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