Gotthold Weil

Gotthold Weil was born in 1882 in Berlin

Gotthold Eljakim Weil was born in Berlin in 1882. His father, David Weil, was a teacher, and his mother was Henriette. He was a great-grandson of Meir Weil, chief rabbi of Berlin.

He studied at the University of Berlin and at the Higher Institute for Jewish Studies in Berlin, where Moritz Steinschneider was among his teachers. He was an early member of a Zionist student group, and with Judah Leib Magnes and Max Schlesinger he founded a national student association.

In 1906 he became a librarian at the Royal Library in Berlin, and in 1918 he founded its Oriental department and headed it. From 1920 to 1931 he taught Semitic philology and Islamic culture at the University of Berlin. In 1931 he became a full professor of Semitic philology at the University of Frankfurt, but he lost the post in 1934 under Nazi law.

In 1935 he moved to the Land of Israel and joined the Hebrew University as a professor of Turkish philology and Arabic literature and linguistics. He also became director of the Jewish National and University Library, where he reorganized the catalog, storage and staff work. When he left in 1946, the library held about 450,000 volumes.

He returned to academic work and retired from the university in 1952. He died in Jerusalem in 1960 and was buried in the Sanhedria cemetery. He was married and had a daughter.