Scienceמשה שוובה

Moshe Schwabe

Moshe Schwabe was a German-born Israeli philologist and scholar of Greek and Roman inscriptions who served as rector of the Hebrew University from 1950 to 1952.

1889 to 1956Greek and Roman inscriptions researchBeit She'arim inscriptionsRector of the Hebrew UniversityHebrew gymnasium in Kaunas

Born: 20 July 1889, Halle (Saale)
Died: 10 September 1956, Jerusalem
Occupation: classical philologist, classical archaeologist, epigrapher, university teacher

Moshe Schwabe was born in 1889 in Halle (Saale)

Moshe Schwabe was born in 1889 in Halle, Germany, to a Jewish merchant family. He finished gymnasium in his hometown in 1908. In 1910 he married Judith Stadthagen.

He studied at the university in Halle and then at the University of Berlin. In 1914 he earned a doctorate in classical philology under Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff.

Active in the Zionist movement from his youth, he became the educational director of the Hebrew gymnasium in Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1920. Among his students were Leah Goldberg and Emmanuel Levinas. He also headed the Hechalutz organization in Lithuania.

He immigrated to the Land of Israel in 1925 and began lecturing at the new Hebrew University. In 1928 he founded its department of Greek language and literature with Avigdor Tcherikover. His research dealt with Jewish Hellenism, and he deciphered hundreds of inscriptions found at Beit She'arim.

He served as rector of the Hebrew University from 1950 to 1952. He died in 1956 and was buried in Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv.