Mayer Lambert (December 23, 1863 – October 30, 1930) was a French Jewish Oriental scholar and Hebraist.

Life

Lambert was born on December 23, 1863, in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the son of the religious textbook author Elie Lambert. His grandfather was Chief Rabbi Lion Mayer Lambert of Metz, his great-grandfather was Chief Rabbi Aaron of Worms, and through the latter he was a descendant of Gershon Ulif Ashkenazi and the sixteenth-century Worms rabbi and hazzan Elijah Blin. Lambert initially studied in Metz. He then went to the

rabbinical seminary A Jewish seminary is a Jewish educational institution. See Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Reform), Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative), Yeshiva University (Orthodox), Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Academy for ...

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. S ...

, receiving his rabbinical degree from there in 1886. He later studied at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. In 1887, he became professor of Arabic and Syriac at the seminary. In 1894, he also joined the seminary's faculty of Hebrew. During that time, he also taught Hebrew at the École Normale Orientale, which was ran by the

Alliance Israélite Universelle The Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU; he, כל ישראל חברים; ) is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 with the purpose of safeguarding human rights for Jews around the world. It promotes the ideals of Jew ...

. In 1903, he became professor of Arabic and Syriac at the

École des Hautes Études École 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 * École, Savoi ...

. He was associated with Joseph Derenbourg for many years in Derenbourg's research into Hebrew and oriental literature. Lambert contributed a number of articles to periodicals like the ''

Revue des Etudes Juives A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own durin ...

'' and the ''

Journal Asiatique The ''Journal asiatique'' (full earlier title ''Journal Asiatique ou Recueil de Mémoires, d'Extraits et de Notices relatifs à l'Histoire, à la Philosophie, aux Langues et à la Littérature des Peuples Orientaux'') is a biannual peer-reviewed a ...

''. He also contributed to the publication of the ''

Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum The ("Corpus of Semitic Inscriptions", abbreviated CIS) is a collection of ancient inscriptions in Semitic languages produced since the end of 2nd millennium BC until the rise of Islam. It was published in Latin. In a note recovered after his de ...

'' and was involved with a French translation of the Bible that was issued by the French rabbinate. He published, among other articles, ''Eléments de Grammaire Hébraique'' in 1890, ''Commentaire sur le Séfer Yesira'', ''ou livre de la Création par Saadiah'' in 1891, Saadiah's version of and commentary on Proverbs, text and French translation with Derenbourg ''Oeuvres complètes de Saadia. Traduction des Proverbes'' in 1894, and ''Glossaire hébreu-français du xiiime siècle'' with L. Brandin in 1905. Three parts of his work ''Traité de Grammaire Hébraïque'' were published between 1931 and 1938. Lambert died on October 30, 1930.

References

1863 births 1930 deaths Rabbis from Metz Writers from Metz Rabbis from Paris Writers from Paris Academics from Paris Jewish French writers 19th-century French rabbis 20th-century French rabbis Academic staff of the École pratique des hautes études Jewish orientalists French orientalists French Hebraists {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Mayer