Scienceנחום סלושץ

Nahum Slouschz

Nahum Slouschz was a Russian-born Israeli writer, translator and archaeologist known for his studies of Jewish communities in North Africa.

1872 to 1966Jewish communities of North AfricaHamat Tiberias synagogue excavationHebrew translations of French literature

Born: 28 December 1872, Smarhon
Died: 15 December 1966, Gedera
Occupation: linguist, literary critic, translator, archaeologist
Education: University of Paris, University of Geneva

Nahum Slouschz was born in 1872 in Smarhon

Slouschz was born in 1872 in Smarhon, in the Russian Empire, and grew up in Odessa. His father, David Shlomo Slouschz, was a rabbi and Hebrew writer who taught him Jewish studies. He began writing for Hebrew and Russian newspapers as a teenager.

He was an active Zionist and a follower of Herzl. He attended the Second Zionist Congress in Basel as a delegate and helped found the Swiss Federation of Zionists. He studied in Geneva and then in Paris, where he completed a doctorate in 1903 on the revival of Hebrew literature.

Between 1906 and 1912 he made research trips in North Africa, including Libya and Tunisia, to study Phoenician and Greek inscriptions. He also translated French writers such as Zola and Maupassant into Hebrew.

He immigrated to the Land of Israel in 1919. In 1921 he excavated an ancient synagogue at Hamat Tiberias, a dig under Jewish sponsorship. He also excavated around Absalom's Tomb in Jerusalem and edited the publications of the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society.

He received the Bialik Prize in 1942 and was made a Knight of the French Legion of Honour in 1955. He died in Gedera in 1966 and was buried there.