Alexander Beider (russian: Александр Борисович Бейдер, ; yi, אלכסנדר ביידער, ) is the author of reference books in the field of Jewish

onomastics Onomastics (or, in older texts, onomatology) is the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. An '' orthonym'' is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onomastic study. Onomastics can be helpful in data mining, ...

and the linguistic history of Yiddish.

Biography

Alexander Beider was born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in 1963. In 1986 he graduated from the

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT; russian: Московский Физико-Технический институт, also known as PhysTech), is a public university, public research university located in Moscow Oblast, Russia. I ...

and in 1989 he received a PhD in

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathemat ...

from the same institution. Since 1990, he lives with his family in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, France. His works deal with

etymology Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...

and geographic distribution of

Jewish surnames Jewish surnames are family names used by Jews and those of Jewish origin. Jewish surnames are thought to be of comparatively recent origin; the first known Jewish family names date to the Middle Ages, in the 10th and 11th centuries CE. Jews hav ...

, traditional Yiddish given names, methodological principles of studying names, and the history of Yiddish. His papers have been published by scholarly journals in US, France, Israel, Poland, and Russia. In 1999, he received his PhD in

Jewish studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; he, מדעי היהדות, madey ha-yahadut, sciences of Judaism) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history ( ...

, from the Sorbonne, with thesis about Ashkenazic Jewry names. He is also the co-author with

Stephen P. Morse Stephen Paul Morse (born May 1940) is the architect of the Intel 8086 chip and is the originator of the "One Step" search page tools used by genealogists. Early life Morse was born in Brooklyn, New York. He has degrees in electrical engineerin ...

of the Beider–Morse Phonetic Name Matching Algorithm. Beider "provided historical context on Jewish origins" to a team of genetic researchers studying Jews from 14th-century

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits ...

, Germany and became listed as a co-author of their final paper.

Bibliography

* Beider, A. 2019
A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Italy, France and "Portuguese" Communities
New Haven, CN: Avotaynu. * Beider, A. 2017

New Haven, CN: Avotaynu. * Beider, A. 2015
Origins of Yiddish Dialects
Oxford: Oxford University Press. * Beider, A. 2009

Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu. * Beider, A. & Morse, S. P. 2008
Beider–Morse Phonetic Matching: An Alternative to Soundex with Fewer False Hits. Avotaynu
The International Review of Jewish Genealogy 24/2: 12-18. * Beider, A. 2005
Scientific Approach to Etymology of Surnames. Names: A Journal of Onomastics
53: 79-126. * Beider, A. 2004

Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu. * Beider, A. 2001

s. Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu. * Beider, A. 1996
A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland
Teaneck, NJ: Avotaynu. Best Judaica Reference Book" award for 1996* Beider, A. 1995
Jewish Surnames from Prague (15th-18th centuries)
Teaneck, NJ: Avotaynu. * Beider, A. 1993, 2008

Teaneck, NJ: Avotaynu.

References

External links

Profile at International Institute for Jewish Genealogy

The New Yiddish Dialectology: A Review of Alexander Beider’s ''The Origins of Yiddish Dialects''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beider, Alexander 1963 births Living people Writers from Moscow Russian Jews Soviet emigrants to France French people of Russian-Jewish descent Linguists of Yiddish Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology alumni