Joseph Derenbourg
Encyclopedia
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
.
He was born in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
(then French-controlled), as a youngest son of the lawyer Jacob Derenburg.
According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, "He was a considerable force in the educational revival of Jewish education
Jewish education
Jewish education is the transmission of the tenets, principles and religious laws of Judaism. Due to its emphasis on Torah study, many have commented that Judaism is characterised by "lifelong learning" that extends to adults as much as it does to children.-History:The tradition of Jewish...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
." He made great contributions to the knowledge of Saadia
Saadia
Saadia is a Jewish name and Arabic name. it can refer to several people:*Saadia Gaon - Ninth century rabbi, philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.*Saadia Afzaal - Pakistani journalist and television news anchor....
, and planned a complete edition of Saadia's works in Arabic and French. A large part of this work appeared during his lifetime.
He also wrote an Essai sur l'histoire ella geographie de la Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
(Paris, 1867). This was an original contribution to the history of the Jews and Judaism in the time of Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
, and has been much used by later writers on the subject (e.g., by Emil Schürer
Emil Schürer
Emil Schürer was a German Protestant theologian.-Biography:Schürer was born at Augsburg.After studying at Erlangen, Berlin and Heidelberg from 1862 to 1866, he became in 1873 professor extraordinarius at Leipzig and eventually professor ordinarius at Göttingen...
). He also published in collaboration with his son Hartwig Derenbourg
Hartwig Derenbourg
Hartwig Derenbourg was an Orientalist.He was born in Paris, son of scholar Joseph Derenbourg. He was educated at Göttingen and Leipzig. Subsequently he studied Arabic at the Ecole des Langues Orientales. In 1879 he was appointed professor of Arabic, and in 1886 professor of Muslim Religion, at the...
, Opuscules et traités d'Abou-l-Walid (with translation, 1880); Deux Versions hebraïques du livre de Kalilah et Dimnah (1881), and a Latin translation of the same story under the title Joannis de Capua directorium vitae humanae (1889); Commentaire de Maimonide sur la Mischnah Seder Tohorot (Berlin, 1886-1891); and a second edition of Silvestre de Sacy
Silvestre de Sacy
Antoine Isaac, Baron Silvestre de Sacy , was a French linguist and orientalist. His son, Ustazade Silvestre de Sacy, became a journalist.-Early life:...
's Seances de Ilariri. He died in 1895 at Bad Ems
Bad Ems
Bad Ems is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the county seat of the Rhein-Lahn rural district and is well known as a bathing resort on the river Lahn...
.