Moshe Goshen-Gottstein


Moshe Goshen-Gottstein was a German-born professor of Semitic linguistics and biblical philology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and director of the lexicographical institute and Biblical research institute of Bar-Ilan University.

Biography

Moshe Goshen-Gottstein was born in Berlin. He immigrated to Palestine in 1939 to escape the Nazis, and studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He married Esther Hepner, a clinical psychologist, and had two sons, Alon and Yonatan. He was a resident of Talbiya, Jerusalem.
Esther Goshen-Gottstein wrote a book about her husband's recovery from a four-month coma in the wake of heart surgery, "Recalled to Life: The Story of a Coma."

Academic career

From 1950 on, Goshen-Gottstein taught at Hebrew University. He became a professor in 1967.
Goshen-Gottstein made important contributions in the areas of Biblical studies, Hebrew linguistics and Semitic linguistics. His numerous articles and books included "Medieval Hebrew syntax and Vocabulary as Influenced by Arabic", "Introduction to the Lexicography of Modern Hebrew" and "The Aleppo Codex". He worked on several dictionaries, among them the "Millon ha-Ivrit ha-Hadashah", the first synchronic dictionary of Hebrew. He was the founder of the Hebrew University Bible Project, which he directed for many years.

Awards

In 1988, Goshen-Gottstein was awarded the Israel Prize in Jewish studies