Simcha Pinsker

Simcha Pinsker (born March 17, 1801 in Tarnopol , † October 29, 1864 in Odessa ) was a Polish orientalist. He was a pioneer of Karaite research and the father of Juda Löb Pinsker , the pioneer of Zionism .

Pinsker rendered great services to the deciphering of the Karaite manuscripts in the Crimea , which Abraham Firkowitsch had given to the Odessa Society for Antiquities and History. Pinsker wrote several articles about it, including in Fürst's "Orient", whereupon he was soon regarded as an authority on Jewish-Arabic and Karean literature.

The Russian government awarded him two gold medals and honorary citizenship, and the Odessa Jewish community gave him an annual pension of 300 rubles. He later moved to Vienna , where he continued his studies in Jewish science.

Pinsker's work initially caused quite a stir in Jewish historiography until the suspicion arose that Firkowitsch might have forged some of the manuscripts in question.

Major works

• Likkute kadmonijot, Contribution to the History of Religion and Literature of the Karaites , 1860
• Mewo lenikkud ha'aschuri , Vienna 1863

literature

• Jewish Lexicon , Berlin 1927, Vol. IV / 1, Col. 951 f.
• Salomon Wininger : Great Jewish National Biography . Volume V, 39 f., Chernivtsi 1931.

Web links

• Herman Rosenthal, AS Waldstein:  PINSKER, SIMḤAH. In: Isidore Singer (Ed.): Jewish Encyclopedia . Funk and Wagnalls, New York 1901-1906.