Paul Kraus (Arabist)
Encyclopedia
Eliezer Paul Kraus was a Jewish Arabist
, born in Prague. In the late 1930s he moved to Cairo, where in 1944 he committed suicide; there is no evidence that he was politically assassinated.
In 1935 he first published a French translation of Abu Bakr al-Razi's Philosophic Life, following it in 1936 Kraus with a thesis on the work and importance of Geber Abu Mussa
(or Jabir Ibn Hayan) to the science of chemistry. The thesis advanced the possibility that no such person as Geber had ever existed, or that even if he had, the original book might have been written by a group of students, a decade after he died.
In 1937 Kraus moved to Cairo and began teaching Textual Criticism and Semitic Languages
at the University of Cairo.
In 1938 Kraus discovered the Al-Farabi
manuscript (the philosophy of Plato
and Aristotle
and the Commentary on the Laws) in an Istanbul
library, and notified his future brother-in-law, Leo Strauss, about it. The two were excited about the prospects of translating, publishing and researching the manuscript. An Al-Farabi conference was called for 1939 in Istanbul, but was canceled due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
In 1943, after his second wife's death, Kraus traveled to Jerusalem to debate his theory of the coherency of the Old Testament
as a series of lyrics, perhaps as an oral tradition, which, he proposed, explained many inconsistencies and repeated parts in the texts. His behavior at the debate was eccentric, and many of his contemporaries shunned him.
In 1925, as a young Zionist, he went to Palestine, living at first on a Kibbutz, but a year later moving to Jerusalem and beginning studies at the newly-opened Hebrew University. During this year he was briefly married and divorced. By the end of 1926 he had left Jerusalem and begun a research trip through Lebanon and Turkey, ending in Germany to continue his studies in Berlin.
In 1933, with the Nazis coming to power in Germany and many Jews losing their jobs, Kraus left Berlin for Paris, where he was able to continue his studies under the French Orientalist Louis Massignon
. He stayed for three years.
In 1936, he was offered positions at three universities: The Holy Muslim University of India, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the University of Cairo. He took up the Cairo offer, and worked there at the University of Cairo and at the French Archeological Institute of Cairo.
In 1941, he married Bettina Strauss, the sister of Professor Leo Strauss. The two had been acquainted since the late 1920s and had traveled together to Turkey, Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt for research. Bettina died during the birth of their daughter, Jenny Ann, in 1942.
Kraus was known for his fluency in many oriental languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, Amharic (Ethiopian), Accadian, Greek
, Latin and Persian
.
In 1943, he traveled to Jerusalem with his daughter, and married Dorothee Metlitzki
. At a public debate held at the Hebrew University, his theories were ridiculed, and it seems he had suffered a nervous breakdown.
After the debate in Jerusalem, he returned to Cairo alone, his new wife remaining in a Jerusalem hospital with a serious illness. The political situation in Cairo began to deteriorate. Kraus's superiors at the University of Cairo were fired, and an air of anti-science along with growing anti-Semitism was felt there. It was clear that there was no future for him in Cairo, but Jerusalem had closed its doors to him as well. Rooms in his apartment were rented to two Lebanese students, Albert and Cecil Hourani, both later to become prominent scholars. They noticed that upon his return from Jerusalem he appeared manic-depressive. Apparently Kraus was accused of stealing funds that were intended for library purchase and taking them for his personal use.
Kraus committed suicide several months later during 1944. L. His daughter Jenny was adopted by Professor Strauss at the age of four. Kraus's papers, which had been stored in the French Institute in Cairo and apparently plundered by other scholars, were finally brought to the United States by his daughter who donated them to the Special Collections Library of the University of Chicago.
Arabist
This is an article about the western scholars known as Arabists, not the political movement Pan-Arabism.An Arabist is someone normally from outside the Arab World who specialises in the study of the Arabic language and Arab culture, and often Arabic literature.-Origins:Arabists began in medieval...
, born in Prague. In the late 1930s he moved to Cairo, where in 1944 he committed suicide; there is no evidence that he was politically assassinated.
Academic Studies and Work
Kraus was educated in Prague, Berlin (where he met his first wife, Bettina, and received his doctorate in 1929) and Paris.In 1935 he first published a French translation of Abu Bakr al-Razi's Philosophic Life, following it in 1936 Kraus with a thesis on the work and importance of Geber Abu Mussa
Geber
Abu Musa Jābir ibn Hayyān, often known simply as Geber, was a prominent polymath: a chemist and alchemist, astronomer and astrologer, engineer, geologist, philosopher, physicist, and pharmacist and physician. Born and educated in Tus, he later traveled to Kufa...
(or Jabir Ibn Hayan) to the science of chemistry. The thesis advanced the possibility that no such person as Geber had ever existed, or that even if he had, the original book might have been written by a group of students, a decade after he died.
In 1937 Kraus moved to Cairo and began teaching Textual Criticism and Semitic Languages
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...
at the University of Cairo.
In 1938 Kraus discovered the Al-Farabi
Al-Farabi
' known in the West as Alpharabius , was a scientist and philosopher of the Islamic world...
manuscript (the philosophy of Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
and the Commentary on the Laws) in an Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
library, and notified his future brother-in-law, Leo Strauss, about it. The two were excited about the prospects of translating, publishing and researching the manuscript. An Al-Farabi conference was called for 1939 in Istanbul, but was canceled due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
In 1943, after his second wife's death, Kraus traveled to Jerusalem to debate his theory of the coherency of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
as a series of lyrics, perhaps as an oral tradition, which, he proposed, explained many inconsistencies and repeated parts in the texts. His behavior at the debate was eccentric, and many of his contemporaries shunned him.
In 1925, as a young Zionist, he went to Palestine, living at first on a Kibbutz, but a year later moving to Jerusalem and beginning studies at the newly-opened Hebrew University. During this year he was briefly married and divorced. By the end of 1926 he had left Jerusalem and begun a research trip through Lebanon and Turkey, ending in Germany to continue his studies in Berlin.
In 1933, with the Nazis coming to power in Germany and many Jews losing their jobs, Kraus left Berlin for Paris, where he was able to continue his studies under the French Orientalist Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon was a French scholar of Islam and its history. Although a Catholic himself, he tried to understand Islam from within and thus had a great influence on the way Islam was seen in the West; among other things, he paved the way for a greater openness inside the Catholic Church towards...
. He stayed for three years.
In 1936, he was offered positions at three universities: The Holy Muslim University of India, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the University of Cairo. He took up the Cairo offer, and worked there at the University of Cairo and at the French Archeological Institute of Cairo.
In 1941, he married Bettina Strauss, the sister of Professor Leo Strauss. The two had been acquainted since the late 1920s and had traveled together to Turkey, Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt for research. Bettina died during the birth of their daughter, Jenny Ann, in 1942.
Kraus was known for his fluency in many oriental languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, Amharic (Ethiopian), Accadian, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, Latin and Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
.
In 1943, he traveled to Jerusalem with his daughter, and married Dorothee Metlitzki
Dorothee Metlitzki
Dorothee Metlitzki was an author and professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley and, for most of her career, at Yale University...
. At a public debate held at the Hebrew University, his theories were ridiculed, and it seems he had suffered a nervous breakdown.
After the debate in Jerusalem, he returned to Cairo alone, his new wife remaining in a Jerusalem hospital with a serious illness. The political situation in Cairo began to deteriorate. Kraus's superiors at the University of Cairo were fired, and an air of anti-science along with growing anti-Semitism was felt there. It was clear that there was no future for him in Cairo, but Jerusalem had closed its doors to him as well. Rooms in his apartment were rented to two Lebanese students, Albert and Cecil Hourani, both later to become prominent scholars. They noticed that upon his return from Jerusalem he appeared manic-depressive. Apparently Kraus was accused of stealing funds that were intended for library purchase and taking them for his personal use.
Kraus committed suicide several months later during 1944. L. His daughter Jenny was adopted by Professor Strauss at the age of four. Kraus's papers, which had been stored in the French Institute in Cairo and apparently plundered by other scholars, were finally brought to the United States by his daughter who donated them to the Special Collections Library of the University of Chicago.
Selected publications
- Altbabylonische Briefe: aus der Vorderasiatischen Abteilung der Preussischen Staatsmuseen zu Berlin. Leipzig: J C Hinrichs, 1931.
- Jabir ibn Hayyan. Mukhtar rasaʾil Jabir Ibn Hayyan. Edited by Paul Kraus. Cairo: al-Khanji, 1935.
- Essai sur l'histoire des idées scientifiques dans l'Islam. Paris: G P Maisonneuve; Cairo: al-Khanji, 1935.
- Julius Ruska. Bruges, Belgium: Saint Catherine Press, 1938.
- Plato Arabus. Edited by Richard Walzer, Paul Kraus, et al. London: Warburg Institute, 1943.
- Jâbir ibn Hayyân—Contribution à l’histoire des idées scientifiques dans l’Islam—Jâbir et la science grecque. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1986.
- Alchemie, Ketzerei, Apokryphen in fruhen Islam: Gesammelte Aufsatze. Edited by Rémi Brague. Hildesheim and New York: Georg Olms Verlag, 1994. A collection of eleven studies by Paul Kraus, containing a brief biography.
See also
- Joel L Kraemer. ‘The Death of an Orientalist: Paul Kraus from Prague to Cairo’. In The Jewish discovery of Islam: Studies in honor of Bernard Lewis. Edited by Martin KramerMartin KramerMartin Seth Kramer is an American scholar of the Middle East at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Shalem Center. His focus is on Islam and Arab politics.-Education:...
. Tel-Aviv: Moshe Dayan Centre for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University, 1999. - Paul Krause in Czech, including two images, and fully detailed biography, especially of the years when he grew up in Prague, and a description of his being found hanging after committing suicide.
- http://www.uv.es/IHCD/imagenes/cronos2_2.
- Paul Kraus and Arabic Alchemy University of Valencia Cronos magazine of 1999 (French)
- Islamic philosophical theology By Parviz Morewedge quoting and arguing with Kraus' hypothesis.
- A tribute to Dorothee Metlitzki
- Richard Walzer wrote book co-edited by Kraus.