Eugen Mittwoch’s Biography As Seen Through His Scholarly Correspondence, 1898 through 1940

Eugen Mittwoch (1876–1942) was one of the most prominent representatives of German Orientalism during the first decades of the twentieth century that are credited with having initiated a new direction in Islamic studies within Orientalism. Trained as an Arabist and a Semitist, Mittwoch was at the same time a specialist in Ethiopian and Amharic studies, and was particularly interested in the study of Islamic medicine. Mittwoch was also engaged in the study of the Geniza, epigraphy, and Southern Arabian studies, and in addition worked on topics relevant to the Science of Judaism (“Wissenschaft des Judentums”). Mittwoch’s academic career ended abruptly when he was dismissed from his professorial position at the end of 1935 and eventually forced into exile in 1938. As a result, only portions of his professional and personal Nachlass have come to us. Insights into his personality and development as a scholar can be gained from his correspondence. The book presents a critical annotated edition of Eugen Mittwoch’s correspondence with Moritz Steinschneider (1816–1907), Theodor Nöldeke (1836–1930), Justus Brinckmann (1843–1915), Wilhelm von Bode (1845–1929), Friedrich Carl Andreas (1846–1930), Leopold Landau (1848–1920), Markus Brann (1849-1920), Ignaz Goldziher (1850–1921), Wilhelm Bacher (1850–1913), David Simonsen (1853–1932), Immanuel Löw (1854–1944), Adolf Erman (1854–1937), Hans von Cranach (1855–1929), Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857–1936), Hermann Burchardt (1857–1909), Carl Bezold (1959–1922), Elkan Nathan Adler (1861–1946), Georg Jacob (1862–1937), Richard Gottheil (1862–1936), Ludwig Borchardt (1863–1938), Cyrus Adler (1863–1940), Hubert Grimme (1864–1942), Aby Warburg (1866–1929), Adolf Büchler (1867–1939), Israel Davidson (1870–1939), Victor Aptowitzer (1871–1942), Arthur Lehman (1873–1936), Abraham Kahana (1874–1946), Max Meyerhof (1874–1945), Paul E. Kahle (1875–1964), Enno Littmann (1875–1958), Carl Heinrich Becker (1876–1933), Emil Gratzl (1877–1957), Rudolf Strothmann (1877–1960), Abraham Shalom Yahuda (1877–1951), Judah L. Magnes (1877–1948), Martin Buber (1878–1965), Jacob Nahum Epstein (1878–1952), Eugenio Griffini (1878–1925), Eugen Täubler (1879–1953), Carl Prüfer (1881–1959), Gotthold Weil (1882–1960), Arthur Schaade (1883–1952), Rudolf Tschudi (1884–1960), Carl Rathjens (1887–1966), Adolf Fraenkel (1891–1965), Hellmut Ritter (1892–1971), Shelomo Dov Goitein (1900–1985), Joseph Schacht (1902–1969), Paul Kraus (1904–1944), Hans Jakob Polotsky (1905-1991), Walter B. Henning (1908–1967), Isidore S. Meyer, and Ruth Maschke. Arranged in chronological order, the letters (German for the most part, some in Arabic, Hebrew, and English) present to the reader an impression of Mittwoch’s life as a scholar, a proponent of Zionism, a father and a husband.