Back to search results

Moritz Lazarus Archive

Enlarge text Shrink text
Lazarus, Moritz, 1824-1903 (Creator of the archive)
  • Archive
צילום: לא ידוע, [בערך 1860-1930]מתוך: אוסף אברהם שבדרון

Moritz Lazarus, (1824-1903) Jewish philosopher and psychologist, was a leading opponent of anti-Semitism in his time and a founder of comparative psychology. He was professor of psychology at the University of Bern from 1860 to 1866, after that teacher of philosophy at the Royal Military Academy in Berlin from 1867, and honorary professor of philosophy at the university of Berlin from 1873. He was one of the founders of the Schiller-Foundation. After the death of his first wife, he married the widow Nahida Ruth Sturmhöfel Remy. They retired to Merano. His wife attempted to publish several of his manuscripts after his death. The archive contains his personal documents, correspondence and writings, reviews on his work, also the archive of his second wife Nahida and some documents related to her mother Nahida Sturmhoefel, who was a writer, publicist and early feminist. The fourth part of the Lazarus archive contains material related to Aron Tänzer's biography of Moritz Lazarus.

Reference Code
ARC. Ms. Var. 298
Dates
1844-1978
Consists of
3.8 m..
Languages
German; Hebrew;
Description
The archive contains personal documents, works written by Moritz Lazarus, correspondence, reviews and material on Moritz Lazarus and the personal archive of Moritz Lazarus' second wife, Nahida Ruth Lazarus. The archive also contains material written by the biographer of Moritz Lazarus, Rabbi Dr. Aron Tänzer.;הארכיון מכיל מסמכים אישיים, יצירות שכתב מוריץ לצרוס, התכתבויות, סקירות וחומר על מוריץ לצרוס והארכיון האישי של אשתו השנייה נהידה רות לצרוס. הארכיון מכיל גם חומר שנכתב על ידי הביוגרף של מוריץ לצרוס, הרב ד"ר ארון טנצר.
location
  • The Archives Collection of the National Library of Israel The Archives Collection of the National Library of Israel
Title Moritz Lazarus Archive
Additional Titles כותרת בעברית: ארכיון מוריץ לצרוס.
Contributors Nahida,Remy 1849-1928 ((Creator of the archive))
Aron,Tänzer 1871-1937 ((Creator of the archive))
Notes Berlin
Citation Note ARC. Ms. Var. 298, Moritz Lazarus Archive, Archives Department, the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem
Host Item Moritz Lazarus Archive
Former Call Number Ms. Var. 298Ms. Var. 327
Level of Description Fonds Record
Biographical summary Moritz Lazarus was born on Sept. 15, 1824 in Filehne as the son of Aaron Levin Lazarus, a pupil of Akiba Eiger, and president of the bet din and the yeshiva of Filehne. Moritz Lazarus studied Hebrew literature and history, law, and philosophy in Berlin. In 1850 he graduated with a Ph.D. In the same year he married Sarah Lebenheim. He had positions as professor at the university of Bern (1860–66), at the Kriegsakademie in Berlin (1867–73), and was appointed honorary professor at Friedrich Wilhelm University (now Humboldt University) in Berlin (1873). Lazarus and Heymann Steinthal were proponents of the idea of "Völkerpsychologie", a term that had been coined around 1800 by Wilhelm von Humboldt. The idea was based on the theory that thoughts rely on language and therefore each nation has a different way of seeing the world. Steinthal and Lazarus developed the scientific approach to this theory, they published the Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie und Sprachwissenschaft from 1860 onwards. Modern social sciences have abandonded the viewpoint that entire peoples or nations can possess a unique psyche, and the different aspects of social groups are now focus of ethnology, history of science, anthropology, psychology of culture and society, and so on. Apart from the great interest of his philosophical work, Lazarus was pre-eminent among the Jews of the so-called Semitic denomination in Germany. Like Heine, Auerbach and Steinthal, he rose superior to the narrower ideals of the German Jews, and took a leading place in German literature and thought. He protested against the violent antisemitism of the time, and, in spite of the moderate tone of his publications, was exposed to censure. In 1869 and 1871 he was president of the first and second Jewish synods at Leipzig and Augsburg. He was one of the founders of the Schiller Stiftung and for many years its president. He was also curator of the Victoria Lyceum. On the occasion of his seventieth birthday he was honored with the title of Geheimrath by Wilhelm II. The University of Bern honored him with a degree of doctor of law, and the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati with an honorary doctor of theology. In 1895 he married the widow Nahida Ruth Sturmhöfel Remy, an actress, author and literary critic, who was raised a Protestant and converted to Judaism. Moritz Lazarus took an active part in the public and spiritual life of the Prussian Jews. From 1867 to 1892 he was a member of the Repräsentantenversammlung of the Jewish congregation of Berlin. From 1882 to 1894 he acted as vice-president of the Deutsch-Israelitischer Gemeindebund. From 1867 to 1874 he was president of the Berlin branch of the Alliance Israélite Universelle. He was also vice-president of the Russian Auxiliary Committee and of the Romanian Committee (1869–94). Lazarus was one of the founders of the Lehranstalt für die Wissenschaft des Judentums in Berlin, and for many years president of its board of curators. He retired to a quiet life in Meran, and died there on April 13, 1903.
Ownership history Files containing research material, academic lectures on philosophy and psychology were sent by Prof. Elbogen from the Hochschule in Berlin to the director of the JNUL, Prof. Weil in 1939. The rest of the material arrived at the National Library later. Some material was added in 1976.
Language Note The archive is mainly in German. There are some letters in Hebrew written by Lazarus to his father.
Credits Moritz Lazarus Archive, The National Library of Israel. Digitization and cataloguing of this fonds was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG / German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy - EXC 2176 'Understanding Written Artefacts: Material, Interaction and Transmission in Manuscript Cultures', project no. 390893796. The research is conducted within the scope of the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) at Universität Hamburg.
National Library system number 990026948100205171
Links תמונת ארכיון

When using this material, please acknowledge the source of the material as follows:

Moritz Lazarus Archive, The National Library of Israel. Digitization and cataloguing of this fonds was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG / German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy - EXC 2176 'Understanding Written Artefacts: Material, Interaction and Transmission in Manuscript Cultures', project no. 390893796. The research is conducted within the scope of the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) at Universität Hamburg.

תנאי השימוש:

Appropriate Conditions of Use Have Been Established for Every Archive File

The terms of use appear on the archival file page on the National Library website.

For more information about the copyright status inquiry service and terms of use for items from the Library’s collections, click here.

MARC RECORDS
Tags

Have more information? Found a mistake?

Partners

More on this subject

Moritz Lazarus' Lebenserinnerungen / bearbeitet von Nahida Lazarus and Alfred Leicht.

Moritz Lazarus 1824-1903

Book
Aus meiner Jugend [microform] : Autobiographie / von Moritz Lazarus ; mit Vorwort und Anhang herausgegeben von Nahida Lazarus.

Moritz Lazarus 1824-1903

Book
Moritz Lazarus und Heymann Steinthal : die Begründer der Völkerpsychologie in ihren Briefen / mit einer Einleitung herausgegeben von Ingrid Belke.

Moritz Lazarus 1824-1903

Book
Sprache / von M. Lazarus.

Moritz Lazarus 1824-1903

Book

This may also interest you

Who Is the Empty Chair at the Passover Seder Intended for?

Who Is the Empty Chair at the Passover Seder Intended for?

While we all sit, as we do every year, at the Seder table, while we sing, ask questions, read the Haggadah and enjoy the holiday meal, hundreds of families among us will not be able to do this. Their holiday spirit, their joy, their loved ones were taken from them.  Their loved ones were kidna

To the article on our blog
Let’s Raise a Glass for Miriam the Prophetess

Let’s Raise a Glass for Miriam the Prophetess

As opposed to the Passover Haggadah, the Jewish Midrash tells us of the significant role played by Miriam the Prophetess in the Exodus from Egypt. Every Passover we are told of the Children of Israel’s journey from slavery to freedom, but it often goes unmentioned that Miriam the Prophetess, sister

To the article on our blog
World War II

World War II

World War II was the most destructive and deadly war in human history. The war officially began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Although the invasion of Poland is commonly seen as the first act of war, Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria and its occupation of Czechoslovakia i

More on this subject