Rabbi Sir Hermann Gollancz, distinguished Jewish scholar and orientalist, died at his residence last night. He had not fully recovered from grief over the loss of his son, Leonard, who fell out of a hotel window at Torquay last year. He had also recently lost his brother, Sir Israel Gollancz, his sister and his wife.
Sir Hermann, who was 78 years old, was the first British rabbi to be knighted. He was also the first Jew to receive the degree of doctor of literature at London University and the first doctor of literature to obtain a rabbinical diploma. After completing 51 years of service in the rabbinate, including 31 years as rabbi of the Bays-water Synagogue, he was appointed minister emeritus of the United Synagogue. In 1923 his services as a rabbi and educator were recognized by King George who conferred a knighthood upon him. From 1902 to 1924 he was professor of Hebrew at the University College and since then had continued as professor emeritus.
Born in Bremen, Germany, Sir Hermann came to England in his youth and studied at the Jews College, London. In 1899 he represented London University at the Congress of Orientalists in Rome. He also served as president of the Jewish Historical Society of England from 1905 to 1906. He was the author of many books on Jewish and Oriental subjects. In 1902 he issued an English translation of the Bible for the Jewish home. Since then he published several translations from Arabic as well as Hebrew.
Sir Hermann, who succeeded Chief Rabbi Dr. Hermann Adler as rabbi of the Bayswater Synagogue, received the highest rabbinical diplomas from the chief rabbis in Galicia in 1897. He helped to found several synagogues in England.
Since 1880 Sir Hermann had devoted a considerable portion of his time to work among the poor, visiting various hospitals and serving on the boards of various philanthropic organizations and establishing synagogues for the workers in industrial localities. He also helped to establish several Jewish schools and was interested in providing library facilities for the poor. At the conclusion of 21 years of service as Goldschmid Professor of Hebrew he presented his own library of several thousand volumes to University College, and he was also largely responsible for the installation at the college of the Mocatta Library.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
