Dr. Louis Ginzberg, world renowned Talmud scholar and Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary since 1902, died here last night at the age of 79.
Dr. Ginzberg was working on the fourth volume of his monumental “Commentary on the Talmud of Jerusalem;” the first three have already been published. He also authored the seven-volume “Legends of the Jews” and many other books and articles. The late Rabbi Stephen S. Wise once called him the “greatest Jewish scholar of our times,” and Harvard awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, while the Jewish Institute of Religion presented him with an honorary Doctorate of Hebrew Letters.
Born in Kovno, Russia, Dr. Ginzberg was educated at the Yeshivas of Kovno and Telshe and received his Ph.D. from the University of Heidelberg. He came to the United States to serve as editor of the department of rabbinic literature of the Jewish Encyclopedia. He also was a founder and former president of the American Academy for Jewish Research.
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