Haim Zafrani (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: حاييم زعفراني), 10 June 1922 in

Essaouira Essaouira ( ; ), known until the 1960s as Mogador (, or ), is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It has 77,966 inhabitants as of 2014. The foundation of the city of Essaouira was the work of t ...

– 31 March 2004), was a Moroccan-born French scholar and writer. Zafrani is particularly noted for having collected and preserved much of the music and oral poetry of the Jews of Morocco. He recorded, and thereby preserved, the melodies of Rabbi David Buzaglo (1903–1975), widely acclaimed as the greatest paytan (author of Jewish liturgical poem) of his time. Zafrani was also a leading scholar on the history of the Jews of Morocco. His best-known book is ''2000 Years of Jewish Life in Morocco'' (translated from French and published in an English edition). Zafrani began his career as a teacher and became a school inspector in charge of the teaching of

in the Alliance Israélite Universelle schools in Morocco. Later, Zafrani moved to Paris, France, where he was a professor and head of the Department of Hebrew language and Jewish civilization at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

. He was member of the ''Institut des Hautes Etudes Semitiques'' of the Collège de France'','' of the '' Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco'', and a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. He was awarded the ''Irving and Bertha Neuman Distinguished Scholar Award,'' (1982–1983), the ''Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi'' prize (1985), the ''Grand Atlas'' prize (1999), and the ''Prize of Maghreb'' (2001). Zafrani wrote fifteen books and more than a hundred articles covering Jewish culture, languages, and literature in the Muslim countries of North Africa, especially

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, as well as the history of the Jews in

Muslim Spain Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

Le Prix Haïm Zafrani

''Le Prix Haïm Zafrani'' is a prize given to creators of works of literary, scientific or artistic merit by the ''Institut Universitaire Elie Wiesel.''

Bibliography

* ZAFRANI, Haim. Two thousand years of Jewish life in Morocco. (English translation). Hoboken, N.J.: Ktav Pub. House, 2002 * ZAFRANI, Haim. Deux mille ans de vie juive au Maroc: histoire et culture, religion et magie. Pp. 325, ill. Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose; asablanca Eddif, c1998 * ZAFRANI, Haim. L'Ecclésiaste et son commentaire: "le livre de l'ascèse": la version arabe de la Bible de Sa'adya Gaon. (with André Caquot). Pp. 132. Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose, c1989 * ZAFRANI, Haim. Juifs d'Andalousie et du Maghreb. Pp. 437, ill. aris Maisonneuve et Larose, c1996. * ZAFRANI, Haim. Pédagogie juive en terre d'islam; l'enseignement traditionnel de l'hébreu et du judaïsme au Maroc. Pp. 191. Paris: A. Maisonneuve, 1969 * ZAFRANI, Haim. Études et recherches sur la vie intellectuelle juive au Maroc de la fin du 15e au début du 20e siècle. V. 1-3. Paris: Geuthner 972-* ZAFRANI, Haim. Éthique et mystique: judaïsme en terre d'Islam: le commentaire kabbalistique du "Traite des Peres" de J. Bu-'Ifergan. Pp. 260. Paris: Editions Maisonneuve & Larose, 1991 * ZAFRANI, Haim. Kabbale, vie mystique et magie: judaïsme d'Occident musulman. Pp. 487, ill. Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose, 1986 * ZAFRANI, Haim. Recherches sur les juifs du Maghreb. Pp. 177, 44. Paris: Institut européen d'études hébraïques, Université de Paris VIII: erit `Ivrit `olamit 1997

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zafrani, Haim 1922 births 2004 deaths Academic staff of the Collège de France French orientalists French Hebraists People from Essaouira Members of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco 20th-century French historians 20th-century Moroccan Jews Moroccan emigrants to France