Prof. Georges Vajda, dean of European scholars of Judaica, died of a heart attack at his home in Paris on the eve of Yom Kippur, it was reported here by friends. He was 73 years old. Educated in Budapest and Paris, Vajda is credited with having single-handedly restored after World War II whatever now exists of European Jewish scholarship.
Vajda published the Revue des Etudes Juives, the most prestigious journal of scholarly Jewish content outside of Israel. He worked towards, and eventually occupied, the first and only Chair of Hebrew Studies at the Sorbonne. He trained two generations of scholars in medieval Jewish philosophy and mysticism. He served as a member of the faculty of the Ecole Rabbinique. Vajda was the author of numerous works dealing with Jewish and Islamic history and philosophy.
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