Gustave Edmund von Grunebaum (1 September 1909 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria – 27 February 1972 in

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, California, born ''Gustav Edmund

Ritter Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above " Edler" and below "" (Baron). As with most titles and desig ...

von Grünebaum''Österreichische Soziologinnen und Soziologen im Exil 1933 bis 1945
, Archive for the History of Sociology in Austria) was an Austrian

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and

Arabist An Arabist is someone, often but not always from outside the Arab world, who specialises in the study of the Arabic language and Arab culture, culture (usually including Arabic literature). Origins Arabists began in Al Andalus, medieval Muslim ...

. Born in

, Grunebaum received his Ph.D. in Oriental Studies at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

in 1931 with a dissertation on classical Arabic poetry. When

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absorbed Austria in the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

of 1938, he went to the United States, where he was given a position at the Asia Institute in

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Arthur Upham Pope Arthur Upham Pope (February 7, 1881 – September 3, 1969) was an American scholar, art historian, and architecture historian. He was an expert on historical Persian art, and he was the editor of the ''Survey of Persian Art'' (1939). Pope was als ...

, an eminent authority on Persian art and antiquities who used the institute to help a number of displaced German scholars find work in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1943, he moved on to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, and was made professor of Arabic in 1949. In 1957, Grunebaum was appointed professor of Near Eastern History and the director of a new department called the Near Eastern Center at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. He was elected to the

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in 1963 and the

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in 1968. He died in Los Angeles at the age of 62 following brief battle with cancer. The Near Eastern Center was later renamed in Grunebaum's honor. Grunebaum was married to Giselle Steuerman.

Notes

Books

* 1937, Islam and medieval Hellenism: social and cultural perspectives * 1953, Medieval Islam * 1955, In Search of Wealth: A Study of the Emergence of Commercial Operations in the Melanesian Society of Southeastern Papua (co-authored with Cyril S Belshaw and Joe Ben Wheat) * 1964, Modern Islam: The Search for Cultural Identity * 1964, French African literature: some cultural implications * 1964, Parallelism, Convergence, and Influence in the Relations of Arab and Byzantine Philosophy, Literature, and Piety * 1965, Islam: experience of the holy and concept of man * 1971, Theology and law in Islam * 1971, Arabic poetry. Theory and development (editor) * 1981 (reprint), Themes in medieval Arabic literature * 2003, Instruction of the Student: The Method of Learning (co-authored with Burhān al-Dīn Zarnūjī and Theodora Mead Abel) * 2005 (reprint), Classical Islam: A History, 600 A.D. to 1258 A.D., 1972 * 2008 (reprint), Mohammedan Festivals * 2011 (reprint), A Tenth Century Document of Arabic Literary Theory and Criticism: The Sections on Poetry of Al-Baqillani's I'jaz Al-Qur'an

Articles

* 'Toynbee’s Concept of Islamic Civilization’ in Gargan, Edward T., ed., ''The Intent of Toynbee’s History : A Cooperative Appraisal'' (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1955).

External links

In Memoriam: Gustave E. Von Grunebaum, 1909-1972
20th-century Austrian historians Austrian Arabists 1909 births 1972 deaths Emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United States Members of the American Philosophical Society {{Austria-historian-stub