Nationality Dutch Years active 1911-1944 | Occupation professor | |
 | ||
Born October 26, 1886 ( 1886-10-26 ) Amsterdam Died October 18, 1944(1944-10-18) (aged 57)
Auschwitz Alma mater University of Amsterdam Employer University of Amsterdam | ||
Juda Lion Palache (October 26, 1886 – October 18, 1944) was a professor of Semitic languages (Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic) at the University of Amsterdam and a leader of the Portuguese Jewish community in that city. He came from the Pallache family.
Contents
Background
Palache was born in Amsterdam on October 26, 1886. His father Isaac was chief rabbi of the Portuguese Sephardic community. His mother was Judith Spinoza Catella Jessurun, likely a descendant of philosopher Baruch Spinoza.
His ancestors Samuel Pallache and brother Joseph Pallache arrived in the Netherlands from Morocco via Spain and France around 1608.
He first studied at the Ets-Ḥayyim rabbinical seminary. In 1914, he received a Bachelors in Semitic linguistics from the University of Amsterdam and in 1920 a doctorate also in Semitic languages from the University of Leiden. He studied under Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje.
Career
In 1911, Pallache began working as a grade school teacher of Hebrew and then a high school teacher of classical languages in The Hague.
In October 1924, he became professor of Semitic languages at the University of Amsterdam, the first Jew to hold this position. Dutch public opposition faded due to his expertise. He remained in this position through 1941.)
During these years at the University of Amsterdam, his chair served two faculties, Arts and Theology.
Associations
Palache was active in the Jewish community, particularly among the Portuguese (parmas of Portuguese Talmud Torah congregation), Spanish (again, as parmas), and French communities.
He headed the Dutch Association for Jewish Studies.
Personal and death
In 1917, Palache married married Sophia Wilhelmina de Pinto; they had three children. His children's names were Mozes, Rebeca, and Isaac (Leon).
He was not Orthodox.
He was a staunch anti-Zionist.
After Nazi Germany's occupation of Holland in 1940, he had to resign as a Jew. He joined the nl:Joodse Raad voor Amsterdam (Jewish Council of Amsterdam), infamous for its appointments by the Germans to handle Jewish affairs and send them East.
In early 1944, the whole family was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto. Later, they were transported to Auschwitz for extermination, where on October 18, 1944, they were indeed exterminated.
Legacy
Much of Palache's work on semantics went missing during World War II.
Younger son Leo Palache survived Auschwitz. He became an ardent Zionist and worked with the Dutch branch of Keren Hayesod.
Palache's university successor, M.A. Been, said of him: Voor mijn voorganger in Amsterdam, de joodse geleerde Palache, die de gehele Biblia Hebraica uit zijn hoofd kende ("For my predecessor in Amsterdam, the Jewish scholar Palache, knew all the Biblia Hebraica from his head"). Professor Been has been credited with the founding of the Amsterdam School, though others give that credit to Palache.
In 1991, K.A.D. Smelik dedicated his book Converting the Past to Palache.
Juda Palache Instituut
Leo Palache established the Juda Palache Instituut at the University of Amsterdam.
Leeser-Rosenthal/Juda Palache-lectures
From 2000 to 2016, the Menasseh ben Israel Institute held an annual Leeser Rosenthal/Juda Palache lecture by internationally renowned researchers in Jewish studies. The lectures occurred with the cooperation of the chair of Hebrew and Jewish studies at the University of Amsterdam (the Juda Palache Institute) and the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana.
Works
Works published in Palache's lifetime:
Posthumously published works: