Deborah Lifchitz (5 June 1907–20 September 1942) was a Polish-French ethnologist and linguist, expert on

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

and cultures of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. She worked at the

Musée de l'Homme The Musée de l'Homme (; literally "Museum of Mankind" or "Museum of Humanity") is an anthropology museum in Paris, France. It was established in 1937 by Paul Rivet for the 1937 ''Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moder ...

in Paris and took part in the Dakar–Djibouti mission in 1932-3. During the

holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, the Nazis imprisoned her in 1942 and murdered her in

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

. Deborah (Desirée) Lifchitz (at times spelled Lifschitz, Lifszyc or Livchitz) was born in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

(then part of the Russian Empire, now Ukraine) in 1907 to a family of

Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

. Her father was a dentist. Following the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, her family left Kharkiv in 1919, first to

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

and from there in 1920 to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. After her ''

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

'' (high school diploma) at Warsaw's French ''lycée'' in 1927, Lifchitz left Poland for Paris, where she studied at the National School of Modern Oriental Languages ''(Langues O’)''. She graduated with diplomas in literary and vernacular (Middle Eastern) Arabic, Persian and Amharic (her teacher in the latter language was

Marcel Cohen Marcel Samuel Raphaël Cohen (February 6, 1884 – November 5, 1974) was a French linguist. He was an important scholar of Semitic languages and especially of Ethiopian languages. He studied the French language and contributed much to general lin ...

). She also completed a ''

licence A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

'' (licentiate) degree in ethnology, ancient semitic languages and history of religions at the

University of Paris Faculty of Humanities The Faculty of Humanities of Paris (in French: ''Faculté des Lettres de Paris''), commonly known as the ''Sorbonne'', was one of the four faculties of the University of Paris, refounded in 1896, and an independent entity from 1808 to 1896, based ...

(Sorbonne) as well as vocational training as a librarian. Upon her graduation, she joined the

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

–

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

mission across Africa led by

Marcel Griaule Marcel Griaule (16 May 1898 – 23 February 1956) was a French author and anthropologist known for his studies of the Dogon people of West Africa, and for pioneering ethnographic field studies in France. He worked together with Germaine ...

. During this research journey, she met with the

Beta Israel Beta Israel, or Ethiopian Jews, is a Jewish group originating from the territory of the Amhara Region, Amhara and Tigray Region, Tigray regions in northern Ethiopia, where they are spread out across more than 500 small villages over a wide ter ...

(Jews of Ethiopia). After her return to Paris, Lifchitz received a position at the Africa department of the ''

Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro The Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro (Ethnographic Museum of the Trocadéro, also called simply the Musée du Trocadéro) was the first Anthropology, anthropological museum in Paris, founded in 1878. It closed in 1935 when the building that hou ...

'' which later, in 1937, became the ''

'' anthropological museum. In 1935, she was a member of the museum's mission to

French Sudan French Sudan (; ') was a French colonial territory in the Federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1959, when it joined the Mali Federation, and then in 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formall ...

(

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

) alongside her colleague and friend

Denise Paulme Denise Paulme (4 May 1909 – 14 February 1998) was a French Africanist and anthropologist. Her role in African literary studies, particularly in regards to the importance of Berber literature, was described as "pivotal". Career Paulme initiall ...

. From Mali she brought back two museum pieces of

Dogon Dogon may refer to: *Dogon people, an ethnic group living in the central plateau region of Mali, in West Africa *Dogon languages The Dogon languages are a small closely related language family that is spoken by the Dogon people of Mali and may ...

art currently displayed in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

and the

Quai Branly A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

museums. After post-graduate studies with

, she completed her thesis on "Ethiopian magico-religious texts" in 1937, receiving the diploma of the historical-philological section,

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

(EPHE). Her dissertation was published in the Paris Institute of Ethnology monograph series edited by

Marcel Mauss Marcel Israël Mauss (; 10 May 1872 – 10 February 1950) was a French sociologist and anthropologist known as the "father of French ethnology". The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss, in his academic work, crossed the boundaries between sociolo ...

and

Paul Rivet Paul Rivet (; 7 May 1876 – 21 March 1958) was a French ethnologist known for founding the Musée de l'Homme in 1937. In his professional work, Rivet is known for his theory that South America was originally populated in part by migrants ...

in 1940. Deborah Lifchitz wrote one book and several articles, which are still considered milestones in the research of Ethiopian languages. During her studies and work at the Musée de l'Homme, Deborah Lifchitz studied and collaborated with the greatest anthropologists and Africanists in Paris of the day, among them

Michel Leiris Julien Michel Leiris (; 20 April 1901, Paris – 30 September 1990, Saint-Hilaire, Essonne) was a French surrealist writer and ethnographer. Part of the Surrealist group in Paris, Leiris became a key member of the College of Sociology with Geor ...

Wolf Leslau __NOTOC__ Wolf Leslau (; born November 14, 1906, in Krzepice, Vistula Land, Poland; died November 18, 2006, in Fullerton, California) was a scholar of Semitic languages and one of the foremost authorities on Semitic languages of Ethiopia. Youth ...

, Marcel Griaule, Marcel Mauss, Marcel Cohen, Paul Boyer, Paul Rivet,

Georges Dumézil Georges Edmond Raoul Dumézil (4 March 189811 October 1986) was a French Philology, philologist, Linguistics, linguist, and religious studies scholar who specialized in comparative linguistics and comparative mythology, mythology. He was a prof ...

, Denise Paulme, with whom she wrote many articles, and more. She applied for French citizenship in 1931, which she was granted in 1937 following letters of recommendation from several of her eminent academic colleagues. When the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

entered Paris, Lifchitz stayed in the city, and after losing her jobs because of the racial laws she was taken in by her colleague Michel Leiris. In February 1942, she was arrested by the French police, taken to French concentration camp, and from there to Auschwitz where she was murdered later that year. According to the testimony of Marcel Cohen she was gassed.

References

* Marianne Lemaire, ''Celles qui passent sans se rallier : la mission Paulme-Lifchitz, janvier-octobre 1935''. Paris : LAHIC / DPRPS-Direction des patrimoines, 2014. Les Carnets de Bérose, 5. Édition électronique consultable par le lien : http://www.berose.fr/spip.php?article595

External links

Biography of Deborah Lifchitz on Encyclopedia Aethiopica, pages 567-8
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lifchitz, Deborah 1907 births 1942 deaths Writers from Warsaw People from Kharkov Governorate Linguists from France Women linguists Jewish women writers Semiticists Polish emigrants to France French civilians killed in World War II French people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp 20th-century French women writers French Jews who died in the Holocaust 20th-century linguists Jewish linguists Cultural anthropologists Women ethnologists French ethnologists Ethiopianists 20th-century French anthropologists