Dr. Koppel S. Pinson, historian and educator, died here yesterday after a long illness at the age of 56. A specialist in Jewish and German history, Dr. Pinson was Professor of History and chairman of the division of social sciences at Queens College here.
Born in Vilna, Lithuania, Dr. Pinson was brought to the United States in 1907, when his family settled in Philadelphia. He was graduated from Gratz College (in Hebraic studies) in 1923 and from the University of Pennsylvania two years later. He received his Ph. D. from Columbia University in 1934. He was a founder and later president of the Conference of Jewish Social Studies and had been editor of its quarterly, “Jewish Social Studies,” since 1938. He was also history editor of the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.
Dr. Pinson had been adviser to the Jewish Education Committee in New York, a member of the Jewish Publication Society and editor of the annual publication of the Yivo Institute of Jewish Research. In 1945-46, he served in Austria and Germany as overseas educational director of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration’s agency for Jewish displaced persons. He was the author of numerous works on German and Jewish history.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
