Isaak Dov Ber Markon

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Isaak Dov Ber Markon , also Isaak Yulyevitch Markon , (born January 27, 1875 in Rybinsk , † March 28, 1949 in London ) was a Russian librarian , orientalist and educator .

Live and act

Born in what is now Yaroslavl Oblast , Markon was the son of a wealthy merchant. He initially studied law and in 1896 switched to oriental studies at the University of Saint Petersburg with Daniil Awraamowitsch Chwolson . He later moved to the University of Berlin and completed his training at the local rabbinical seminary . From 1901 to 1917 he had a position as a scientific librarian in the Hebrew Department of the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg, where he also taught at the Oriental Studies seminar. At this teaching institution founded by David Günzburg (1857–1910), Markov met the historians Simon Dubnow , Heinrich Sliosberg and Mark Wischnitzer . Together with A. Sazowski, he founded the Society of Friends for Research into the Hebrew Language (Ha-Kedem). In collaboration with Lev Israilewitsch Kazenelson , II Margolin and Abraham Zvi Idelsohn , he was committed to the contemporary Hebrew language and culture, which he wanted to revive. The scientists only communicated in the Hebrew language.

In 1908, Markon and Günzburg wrote a commemorative publication for Abraham Harkavy in St. Petersburg . Markon edited the Evrejskaja Enziklopedija and taught Jewish studies at the University of St. Petersburg from 1918 to 1920. In 1922 he took over the chair for Jewish studies at the University of Minsk . In 1924 he moved to Berlin, where he taught at the rabbinical seminary. In the following years he co- edited the Encyclopaedia Judaica and published extensively in Jewish compilations, festschriften, lexicons and encyclopedias.

In 1928 the German-Israelite Congregation in Hamburg gave Markon the management of the Jewish library and the reading hall. Markon worked here not only as a librarian, but also as a writer and speaker. He published on the history of the Jews in Hamburg and gave lectures in the Franz Rosenzweig Memorial Foundation and in adult education. Thereby he imparted new knowledge about the science of Judaism and developed the community library into a scientific institution. During his time he expanded the holdings to include the Wallich and Levin-Salomon-Klaus libraries and bought the collections of Nehemia Anton Nobel and David Leimdörfer (1851–1922). He also accepted donations from private individuals, libraries from cultural associations, clubs and lodges, acquired autographs and collected regional works. This created a diverse and important Jewish institution, the deposit of which can now be found in the State and University Library .

Markon, who in Hamburg belongs to the Steinthal Lodge, the Burial Brotherhood and as a co-opted member of the Synagogue Association, worked there until 1938. Since he was a Soviet Jew, he had to leave the German Reich . He lived briefly in Amsterdam and fled to Great Britain in 1940. Here he worked for Montefiore College in Ramsgate . On behalf of the Commission for Jewish Cultural Reconstruction he wrote about the losses of libraries and other institutions in Hamburg, Altona and Wandsbek . From 1944 to 1947 he wrote his life story for the magazine Mezudah .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Markon, Isaak Dov Ber
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Markon, Isaak Yulyevitch
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian librarian, orientalist and educator
DATE OF BIRTH January 27, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Rybinsk
DATE OF DEATH March 28, 1949
Place of death London