Scienceאברהם הלקין

Abraham Solomon Halkin

Abraham Solomon Halkin was a Jewish historian and scholar of medieval Spanish Jewry who taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and City College of New York.

1903 to 1990Research on medieval Spanish JewryStudies of MaimonidesEditing works of Moses ibn Ezra

Born: 12 June 1903, Novy Bychaŭ
Died: 9 March 1990, Jerusalem
Occupation: historian, Judaic scholar, university teacher, orientalist
Education: Columbia University

Abraham Solomon Halkin was born in 1903 in Novy Bychaŭ

Halkin was born in 1903 in the Mogilev Governorate of the Russian Empire, in today's Belarus. His father was Hillel Halkin, and his brother was the writer and scholar Simon Halkin. In 1914 he moved with his family to the United States.

He went to a public school in New York. He then earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees at Columbia University.

In 1930 he began teaching at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he stayed until he retired in 1977. From 1938 to 1970 he was also professor of Hebrew studies at City College of New York. He studied the sages of medieval Spain, above all Maimonides, and edited and translated works by Moses ibn Ezra and Joseph ibn Aknin.

He wrote entries for the Hebrew Encyclopedia, including one on the Ibn Tibbon family. He was married to Shulamit, daughter of Meir Bar-Ilan, and they had 2 children, Hillel and Miriam. After retiring in 1977 he moved to Israel, and he died of pneumonia in Jerusalem in 1990.