Who's Who in Jewish History

After the period of the Old Testament

New edition revised by Lavinia Cohn-Sherbok, Joan Comay

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• eBook ISBN: 9781134509775
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Jewish Theology

From Karl Marx to the Marx brothers, the Routledge Who's Who in Jewish History presents a complete and thoroughly updated reference guide to over a thousand prominent men and women who have shaped Jewish culture. Covering twenty centuries of Jewish history it provides:
* detailed biographical information on each leading figure
* analysis of their role and significance both in Jewish life and the wider culture
* a comprehensive chronological table displaying the history of the Jewish race
* a series of maps
* a useful glossary giving precise definitions of Jewish words.

Z

ZACH, Nathan b. 1930. Israeli writer. Zach emigrated to Palestine in 1930. He was educated at the Hebrew University and has taught at Essex University in England and Haifa University. He is best known for his poetry and he is regarded as one of the central figures in Israeli literature. He insists on the poet’s freedom from all externally imposed ideology and he has attacked Natan ALTERMAN for his adherence to the norms of European symbolism. A selection of his poetry has been translated into English as The Static Element (1982).

ZACUTO, Abraham ben-Samuel 1452–c. 1515. Astronomer and historian. Zacuto was a professor at the university in his home town of Salamanca and then in Saragossa. He wrote his first work on astronomy (1473–8) for the bishop of Salamanca. It was written in Hebrew and translated into Spanish and Latin. His astronomical tables, vital tools for navigators, were used by COLUMBUS. On the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, Zacuto was appointed court astronomer to King John II of Portugal, serving his successor Manuel I in the same capacity. His advice was sought before Vasco da Gama’s expedition to the New World and Da Gama’s ships carried Zacuto’s metal astrolabe, the first of its kind. When Manuel I determined to convert the Jews of Portugal by force, Zacuto fled in 1497, and after a hazardous journey reached Tunis. There in 1504 he wrote his genealogical history of the Jews from the creation until 1500. While unhistorical by modern standards, the work is of great literary importance.

ZADKINE, Ossip 1890–1967. Sculptor. The work of Russian-born Ossip Zadkine was influenced by primitive art and later in Paris by the cubist movement. His greatest work, The Destroyed City, stands in Rotterdam. It shows an agonized woman with outstretched arms warding off falling bombs, and symbolizing the ruthless aerial attack on the city by the Nazis in 1940.

ZAMENHOF, Ludwik Lazar 1859–1917. Polish inventor of Esperanto. Zamenhof was a Polish eye specialist, and the son of a language teacher. After years of research, he published in 1887 a handbook for Esperanto, a synthetic international language with a simplified vocabulary and grammar. In 1905 he convened in Paris the first of a number of international conferences in support of the language.

ZANGWILL, Israel 1864–1926. British author and founder of the Jewish Territorial Organization. In the two decades from 1880 to 1900, the influx of immigrants from Russia swelled the Jewish population of London from 45,000 to 150,000, mostly concentrated in the East End in conditions of poverty and overcrowding. They found a chronicler of the first rank in Israel Zangwill, the London-born son of Russian immigrant pa...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Who’s Who Series
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• List of Maps
• Author’s Preface
• Glossary
• Chronology
• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• R
• S
• T
• UV
• W
• Y
• Z