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Lazarus Goldschmidt, Orientalist Who Translated Talmud into German, Dies; Was 79

April 19, 1950
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Lazarus Goldschmidt, well-known Orientalist who translated the entire Babylonian Talmud into German, died here today at the age of 79. A native of Lithunia, he studied at various yeshivoth and German universities before settling in Berlin to take up his scholarly activities.

Publication of the Talmud in German–which took 25 years to complete, with the final volume appearing in the Netherlands owing to the rise of the Nazi regime in 1933–is considered of great importance to scholars who hitherto were unable to study the Talmudic volumes in unexpurgated editions. Dr. Goldschmidt also published translations of the Koran and made numerous studies of Ethiopic literature.

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