Reuben Levy (28 April 1891 – 6 September 1966) was Professor of Persian at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He wrote on Persian literature and Islamic history.

Life

Levy was educated at the Friars School, Bangor, the University College of North Wales, Bangor and

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

, studying Persian, Turkish and the Semitic languages. His First Persian teacher was Isa Sedigh. During the First World War, he was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in General Staff Intelligence in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

(1916 to 1918), and worked in the Iraq Political Service (1918 to 1920). He lectured in Persian at Oxford from 1920 to 1923 before living in the United States from 1923 to 1926. He moved to the

in 1926 as Lecturer in Persian, and became Professor of Persian in 1950, the chair being created for him. He was also a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

. During the Second World War, he was a

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

in RAF Intelligence.

Works

His first book, ''Persian Literature'' (1923), was written when he was still a lecturer at Oxford. ''A Baghdad Chronicle'' (1929) was an account of the Muslim Middle Ages and Abbasid Caliphate. It led to his major work, ''The Sociology of Islam'' (2 volumes, 1931–33) (reissued in 1957 as ''The Social Structure of Islam''), which was regarded as a new approach to Muslim history. He also produced translations and critical editions of texts, including the 11th century Persian text Qabus nama (''A Mirror for Princes'', 1951), ''The Tales of Marzuban'' (1959) and ''The Shah-nama'' (1966).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Reuben 1891 births 1966 deaths People educated at Friars School, Bangor Alumni of Bangor University Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge Translators from Persian 20th-century British translators Place of birth missing Place of death missing British Army personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War II