Cecil Roth (5 March 1899 – 21 June 1970) was an English historian. He was

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the ''

Encyclopaedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, Jewish holida ...

''.

Life

Roth was born in

Dalston Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas i ...

, London, on 5 March 1899. His parents were Etty and Joseph Roth, and Cecil was the youngest of their four sons. In childhood, Cecil received a traditional Jewish religious education, including studying Hebrew with Jacob Mann. He went to school at

City of London School The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...

. He fought in the First World War, seeing active duty in France in 1918.Provisional handlist of manuscripts in the Roth Collection
, Handlist 164 (Leeds University Library). Roth studied history at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

. He took a first-class B.A. in modern history in 1922, and a D.Phil. in 1924. His first published work, based on his thesis, was ''The Last Florentine Republic (1527-1530)'', published in 1925. Roth was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

in the same year and a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

in 1941. In 1928 he married Irene Rosalind Davis and lived off freelance writing until returning to

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

as Reader in Post-Biblical Jewish Studies from 1939 to 1964. The couple were enthusiastic collectors of Judaism-related manuscripts and ''

objets d'art In art history, the French term objet d'art (; ) describes an ornamental work of art, and the term objets d’art describes a range of works of art, usually small and three-dimensional, made of high-quality materials, and a finely-rendered finish ...

'', selling substantial collections of the former to the Brotherton Library of the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

in 1961, and of the latter to the Beth Tzedec Synagogue Museum in Toronto. On his retirement from Oxford in 1964, at the invitation of Joseph H. Lookstein, Roth became a visiting professor at

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

, Israel, moving to Jerusalem. However, within a month of his arrival he was attacked in a publication by Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Bromberg for allegedly arguing that

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

never existed – when in fact he had noted others' scepticism about Moses' existence and argued that Moses had in fact lived. The accusation prompted a scandal, and Roth suffered a heart attack in November 1964. Roth's wife Irene attributed the heart attack partly to stress of migrating, and partly to the stress of the accusations. Roth stood down from his position at the University early in 1965, citing ill health. He went on to hold a position at the Queens College, City University of New York (1966–1969) while working as general editor of the ''

'', dying in post shortly after the first edition of the encyclopaedia was completed. Roth died, aged 71, on 21 June 1970 in Jerusalem.

Works

Back page London Jewish Guardian 28 Dec 1928

He was editor-in-chief of the ''

'' from 1965 until his death. His works number over 600 items, including: *''The Last Florentine Republic (1527-1530)'' (London, 1925) * *''Life of

Menasseh Ben Israel Manoel Dias Soeiro (; 1604 – 20 November 1657), better known by his Hebrew language, Hebrew name Menasseh or Menashe ben Israel (), was a Jewish scholar, rabbi, Kabbalah, kabbalist, writer, diplomat, printer (publisher), printer, publishe ...

'' (Philadelphia, 1934) *''Roth

Haggadah The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...

'' (1934) *''A short History of the Jewish people'' (Macmillan, London 1936) *''Magna Bibliotheca Anglo-Judaica: a Bibliographical Guide to Anglo-Jewish History'' (London, 1937) *''The Spanish Inquisition'' (Robert Hale Limited 1937) *''Anglo-Jewish Letters, 1158-1917'' (London, 1938) *''History of the Great Synagogue'' (of London), available online, as part of the Susser Archive of JCR-UK *''The Jewish Contribution to Civilization'' (New York, 1941) *''History of the Jews in England'' (Oxford, 1941) *''History of the Jews in Italy'' (Philadelphia, 1946) *''The Rise of Provincial Jewry'' (Oxford, 1950), available online, as part of the Susser Archive of JCR-UK *''History of the Jews'' (initially published as ''A Bird's-Eye View of Jewish History'') (1954) *''The Jews in the Renaissance'' (Philadelphia, 1959) *''Jewish Art'' (1961) *''The Dead Sea Scrolls'' (1965) *''The House of Nasi: Doña Gracia'' (1969)

Biography

*Roth, Irene.
Cecil Roth: Historian without Tears. A Memoir
' (New York: Sepher-Hermon Press, 1982),

References

External links

''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' (2007)
entry on "Roth, Cecil" by Vivian D. Lipman
Cecil Roth Collection, University of Leeds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Cecil 1899 births 1970 deaths 20th-century British historians 20th-century English Jews Military personnel from the London Borough of Hackney Academic staff of Bar-Ilan University Academics of the University of Oxford Alumni of Merton College, Oxford British military personnel of World War I Queens College, City University of New York faculty Contributors to the Jewish Encyclopedia Jewish encyclopedists English encyclopedists Jewish English writers Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People from Dalston Writers from the London Borough of Hackney