David Samuel Margoliouth 1858-1940
(October 17, 1858 in London, England, – March 22, 1940) was an orientalist. He was professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford (1889–1937) and was briefly active as a minister of the Church of England. He spent considerable time traveling in the Middle East. At Baghdad and in the surrounding area, he came to be regarded as more knowledgeable on Islamic matters than most Arab scholars.
Margoiouth’s father was a JBY, who worked in Bethnal Green as a missionary to the Jews. He was also close to his uncle, Moses Margoliouth. David was educated at Winchester, where he was a scholar, and at New College, Oxford where he graduated with a double first in Greats and won an unprecedented number of prizes in Classics and Oriental languages.
Many of his works on the history of Islam became the standard treatises in English, including Mohammed and the Rise of Islam (1905), The Early Development of Mohammedanism (1914), and The Relations Between Arabs and Israelites Prior to the Rise of Islam (1924)[2].
He was described as brilliant editor and translator of Arabic works[2], as seen in The Letters of Abu’l-‘Ala of Ma’arrat al-Nu’man (1898), Yaqut’s Dictionary of Learned Men, 6 vol. (1907–27), and the chronicle of Miskawayh, prepared in collaboration with H. F. Amedroz under the title The Eclipse of the ‘Abbasid Caliphate, 7 vol. (1920–21). Some of David Samuel Margoliouth’s studies are included in The Origins of The Koran: Classic Essays on Islam’s Holy Book edited by Ibn Warraq.
He was a member of the council of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1905 onwards, its director in 1927, was awarded its triennial gold medal in 1928, and was its president 1934-37[1].
Works
- Mohammed and the Rise of Islam. 1905.
- Umayyads and ‘Abbasids. 1907.
- The Early Development of Mohammedanism. 1914.
- Yaqut’s dictionary of learned men. 7 vols. 1908-1927.
- The Kitab al-Ansab of al-Sam’ani. 1911.
- Mohammedanism. 1912.
- The Table-talk of a Mesopotamian judge. 2 vols. 1921-1922.
- The Eclipse of the Abbasid Caliphate. 1922.
- The Relations Between Arabs and Israelites Prior to the Rise of Islam. Schweich Lecture for 1921. 1924.
- Lectures on Arabic historians, delivered before the University of Calcutta, February 1929. Byzantine series, 38. New York City: Burt Franklin, 1930.
References
- ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica (14th edition) – article Margoliouth, David Samuel
- ^ a b c Encyclopædia Britannica (15th edition) – article Margoliouth, David Samuel
- ^ Werner Eugen Mosse and Julius Carlebach, Second Chance: Two Centuries of German-speaking Jews in the United Kingdom
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
External links
David Samuel Margoliouth. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 18, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/364763/David-Samuel-Margoliouth