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Shlomo Morag

Shlomo Morag was an Israeli linguist and professor of Hebrew at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, known for his research on the Hebrew and Aramaic traditions of Yemenite Jews.

1926 to 1999Research on Yemenite Hebrew traditionsFounding the Jewish Oral Traditions Research CenterThe Israel Prize in 1966

Born: 17 July 1926, Petah Tikva
Died: 4 September 1999, Jerusalem
Occupation: linguist, activist, Semitist, Hebraist
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Shlomo Morag was born in 1926 in Petah Tikva

Shlomo Morag was born in Petah Tikva in 1926. His parents, Moshe Aryeh Mirkin and Sarah Mirkin, taught at the Netzah Israel religious school. The family later moved to Ramat Gan, where he grew up with his younger brother Amotz, who became a professor of economics.

He began his studies at the Hebrew University in 1943. During the War of Independence he served in a codebreaking unit. In 1955 he earned his PhD with a thesis on the Hebrew pronunciation of Yemenite Jews.

He joined the Hebrew University faculty, became a lecturer in 1960 and a full professor in 1971. He also taught at Tel Aviv University and Bar-Ilan University. He founded the Jewish Oral Traditions Research Center and headed the Ben Zvi Institute.

His research dealt with Semitic languages and focused on Hebrew and its oral traditions. He was a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He retired in 1994 and died in 1999.