Alexander Altmann

Alexander Altmann (1906–87) was born in Hungary and educated at the Rabbinical Seminary, Berlin, and at the University of Berlin. In 1938 he left Germany for Manchester, England, where he was appointed communal rabbi. While in Manchester he founde the Institute of Jewish Studies that later moved to University College, London. In 1959 he was appointed Professor of Jewish Philosophy at Brandeis University, Massachusetts, and Director of its Lown Institute of Advanced Judaic Studies.

A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, his numerous publications in English, Hebrew, and German range over such diverse fields as classical rabbinic literature, medieval Judaeo-Arabic philosophy, Jewish mysticism, eighteenth-century Enlightenment, and modern Jewish thought. Among his significant contributions to the history of Jewish thought are 'Saadya Gaon: The Book of Doctrines and Beliefs' (1946), 'Studies in Religions, Philosophy and Mysticism' (1969), and 'Studies in Jewish Intellectual History' (1981).

In later years, much of Professor Altmann’s scholarly work focused on Moses Mendelssohn and the period of the German Enlightenment, and he took over the editorship of Mendelssohn’s 'Gesammelte Schriften' (collected works). In 1979, the 250th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth, he delivered the key lecture in Berlin on ‘Enlightenment and Culture’ at the ceremony marking the city's celebration of Mendelssohn's life.