Avraham Even-Shoshan
russian: Авраа́м Э́вен-Шоша́н, translit=Avraam Even-Shoshan (

né A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth reg ...

Rozenshteyn;
russian: Розенштейн 25 December 1906 – 8 August 1984) was a

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

ian-born

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

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 ...

linguist and lexicographer, compiler of the

Even-Shoshan dictionary The Hebrew dictionary by Avraham Even-Shoshan, commonly known as the ''Even-Shoshan Dictionary'', was first published (1948–1952) as " (''milon ḥadash'', ''A New Dictionary''), later (1966–1970) as (''hamilon heḥadash'', ''The New Dictio ...

, one of the foremost dictionaries of the Hebrew language.

Biography

Avraham Rozenshteyn was born in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, in what was then the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the 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 the Great Northern War. ...

, on 25 December 1906. He attended the

cheder A ''cheder'' ( he, חדר, lit. "room"; Yiddish pronunciation ''kheyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th ...

run by his father, who later sent him to public school and

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

. Rosenstein managed to avoid the British restrictions on Jewish immigration to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

and settled there in 1925, where he changed his name to Even-Shoshan, a translation of Rosenstein, and initially worked as a laborer. He studied at the College for Hebrew Teachers (now the David Yellin College of Education) in Jerusalem and the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

.History and guide to Judaic dictionaries and concordances, Shimeon Brisman
/ref> He worked as a teacher in Jerusalem until 1967. In 1946–58, Even-Shoshan compiled ''HaMilon HeHadash'' (New Dictionary of the Hebrew Language), which since 2003 has become known as the

Even-Shoshan Dictionary The Hebrew dictionary by Avraham Even-Shoshan, commonly known as the ''Even-Shoshan Dictionary'', was first published (1948–1952) as " (''milon ḥadash'', ''A New Dictionary''), later (1966–1970) as (''hamilon heḥadash'', ''The New Dictio ...

. The completed dictionary consisted of 24,698 main entries and about 70,000 words, and is still in print. It includes synonyms in Arabic, Aramaic, Akkadian, and Ugaritic. He was also the author of the Even-Shoshan concordance and co-author of the Bialik concordance. Even-Shoshan died in the

Hadassah Medical Center Hadassah Medical Center ( he, הָמֶרְכָּז הָרְפוּאִי הֲדַסָּה) is an Israeli medical organization established in 1934 that operates two university hospitals in Jerusalem – one in Ein Karem and one in Mount Scopus –, ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in 1984. He was buried in the

Har HaMenuchot Har HaMenuchot ( he, הר המנוחות, Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi pronunciation, Har HaMenuchos, lit. "Mount of Those who are Resting", also known as Givat Shaul Cemetery) is the largest cemetery in Jerusalem. The hilltop burial ground lies at ...

Awards

* In 1978, Even-Shoshan was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

, for language. * In 1981, he was the co-recipient (jointly with

Zev Vilnay Zev Vilnay ( he, זאב וילנאי, 12 June 1900 – 21 January 1988) was an Israeli geographer, author and lecturer. Biography Zev Vilnay was born as Volf Vilensky in Kishinev, Russian Empire (now in Moldova). He immigrated to Palestine with ...

) of the

Bialik Prize The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik Hayim Nahman Bialik ...

for Jewish thought.

Published works

* ''A New Concordance of the Bible: Thesaurus of the Language of the Bible, Hebrew and Aramaic, Roots, Words, Proper Names Phrases and Synonyms'' (1984)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Even-Shoshan, Avraham Linguists from Israel Israeli lexicographers 20th-century Israeli Jews 1906 births 1984 deaths Israel Prize in linguistics recipients 20th-century linguists 20th-century lexicographers Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine

Biography

Awards

Published works

See also

Notes

References