Abstract:
Rudolf Strothmann (b. 1877, d. 1960) played a pioneering role in the scholarly exploration of Shīʿī Islam in Western, specifically German, scholarship. Between 1910 and 1923, he published a number of pathbreaking studies on the Zaydiyya, consulting primarily the recently purchased collections of Yemenī Zaydī manuscripts in Berlin. At the same time, and to the extent that this was possible in view of the lack of relevant sources in Germany and the rest of Europe, Strothmann began to delve into Twelver Shīʿī iterature, an endeavor which culminated in his 1926 monograph, Die Zwölfer-Schīʿa: Zwei religionsgeschichtliche Charakterbilder aus der Mongolenzeit, a portrait of the two prominent seventh/thirteenth-century Imāmī scholars, Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d. 672/1274) and Raḍī al-Dīn ʿAlī b. Mūsā Ibn Ṭāwūs (d. 664/1266). During the later decades of his life, Strothmann primarily focussed on various strands of Ismāʿīlism. His rich published work testifies to his erudition and versatility and continues to form an important point of departure for scholars working on different aspects of Shīʿism in the early twenty-first century. In addition, Strothmann’s use of the manuscript treasures of Berlin State Library between 1908 and 1926 reflects his evolution as a scholar during those years. This article focusses on the earlier decades of Strothmann’s life, his formation as a theologian and scholar of Semitic languages and Islamic culture, and it sheds light on his scholarly work during the 1910s through his correspondence with Ignaz Goldziher (b. 1850, d. 1921), of which an annotated edition is provided.