David Simon Blondheim (August 25, 1884 – March 19, 1934)Guide to the David Simon Blondheim papers, 1924–1981, Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University
/ref> was a professor of Romance

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

and a scholar of medieval Jewish texts in

Romance languages The Romance languages, also known as the Latin or Neo-Latin languages, are the languages that are Language family, directly descended from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-E ...

Education

Blondheim received an A.B. in 1906 and a Ph.D. in 1910 from the Johns Hopkins University, with study in Paris at the

École des Hautes Études École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

. He was Associate Professor of Romance Languages at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) when, in 1917, he was appointed to the faculty at the Johns Hopkins University.

Career

Blondheim was a major figure in the study of Jewish varieties of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Romance languages and researched Jewish medieval writings, particularly Hebraico-French texts, and was the author of many books about early translations of Jewish texts. He carried on the research of Arsene Darmesteter into rabbinical glosses. He was also an important scholarly editor. A substantial survey of Blondheim's life and work appeared as David L. Gold, 'Towards a Prosopography of David Simon Blondheim (1884-1934),' ''Jewish Language Review'' (Haifa, Israel: Association for the Study of Jewish Languages), vol. 6 (1986), 185–202. An extensive bibliography was published elsewhere. "Blondheim's papers are in the National and University Library, Jerusalem" (Gold, op. cit., p. 202), as well as at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Personal life

He was married twice. He and his first wife had a son (Hillel Blondheim); they later divorced. He then married

Eleanor Lansing Dulles Eleanor Lansing Dulles (June 1, 1895 – October 30, 1996) was an American writer, professor, and United States government employee. Her background in economics and her familiarity with European affairs enabled her to fill a number of importa ...

in December 1932. Their son (David Dulles) was born after his father's suicide.Dulles, Eleanor Lansing — American National Biography Online
anb.org. Accessed October 11, 2022.

Publications

* D. S. Blondheim, ''Contribution à la lexicographie française d’après des sources rabbiniques'' (Paris: Champion, 1910). (Ph.D. thesis, The Johns Hopkins University.) * David Simon Blondheim
''A Brilliant and Eccentric Mathematician''
''The Johns Hopkins Alumni Magazine'' 9.2 (Jan. 1921), pp. 119–140. General Books, 978-1-235-59885-2 biographical article about James Joseph Sylvester.See also D. S. Blondheim, 'James Joseph Sylvester,' ''Jewish Comment'' (Baltimore) May 25, 1906. * ''Kadimah'', a publication of the Intercollegiate Zionist Association of America, David S. Blondheim, ed. (New York: Federation of American Zionists, 1918). * D. S. Blondheim, ''Louis Hiram Levin: Zionist Statesman,'' ''Jewish Times'' (Baltimore), June 29, 1923. * D. S. Blondheim, ''Les parlers judéo-romans et la

Vetus Latina The ''Vetus Latina'' ("Old Latin" in Latin), also known as ''Vetus Itala'' ("Old Italian"), ''Itala'' ("Italian") and Old Italic, and denoted by the siglum \mathfrak, are the Latin Bible translations, translations of biblical texts (both Old T ...

: étude sur les rapports entre les traductions bibliques en langue romane des Juifs au moyen âge et les anciennes versions'' (Paris: Champion, 1925). * D. S. Blondheim, "Essai d’un vocabulaire comparatif des parlers judéo-romans." In D. S. Blondheim, ''Les parlers judéo-romans et la

: étude sur les rapports entre les traductions bibliques en langue romane des Juifs au moyen âge et les anciennes versions'' (Paris: Champion, 1925). * D. S. Blondheim, ''Poèmes judéo-français du moyen-âge, publiés et étudiés par D. S. Blondheim'' (Paris: Champion, 1927). * A. Darmesteter et D. S. Blondheim, ''Les gloses françaises dans les Commentaires talmudiques de Raschi,'' 2 vols. (Paris: Champion, 1929–1937). * D. S. Blondheim, Liste des manuscrits des Commentaires bibliques de Raschi, ''Revue des études juives'' 91 (1931), 71 et seq. and 155 et seq. * David Simon Blondheim, ''Notes on the Italian Words in the'' Aruch Completum (New York: Alexander Kohut Memorial Foundation, 1933). * Unfinished and apparently unpublished: D. S. Blondheim, "a study of Raschi's Biblical glosses." (Reported in Gold, op. cit., p. 191.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blondheim, David S. 1884 births 1934 deaths Johns Hopkins University alumni Johns Hopkins University faculty

External links

"Les parlers judéo-romans et la Vetus Latina: etude sur les rapports entre les trad. bibliques en langue romane des Juifs au moyen âge et les anciennes versions"
(Paris: Champion 1925); Online-Ausg.: Frankfurt am Main : Univ.-Bibliothek, 2010. - Online-Ausg.