Hayyim Jonah Gurland

Who was Hayyim Jonah Gurland?

Jonah Hayyim Gurland was a Russian and Hebrew writer born at Kleck, government of Minsk. At the age of 10, Gurland entered the rabbinical school of Wilna, from which he graduated as rabbi in 1860. He then went to St. Petersburg, and was admitted to attend the lectures of the philological faculty, devoting himself to the study of Semitic languages under the direction of Daniel Chwolson.

During his stay at the university Gurland translated the fables of Lokman into Russian and published a dissertation on the influence of Arabian philosophy on Moses Maimonides, a subject proposed by the faculty. For his treatment of this, Gurland received a gold medal. In 1864, on obtaining his first degree from the university, Gurland devoted three years to the study of the Firkovich collection of Karaite manuscripts in the Russian Imperial Library. The result of this study was the publication, in Russian, of a work on the life of Mordecai Comtino and his contemporaries. For this, Gurland was awarded the degree of "magister". Gurland was then charged with the cataloging of the Hebrew books of the Imperial Library.

In 1869 he went to Yekaterinoslav, where he was appointed examining magistrate in one of the precincts. In 1873 Gurland was appointed inspector of the normal colleges for teachers at Jitomir, a position which he held for seven years. The government conferred upon him two orders and the title of "college councilor". In 1880, as a consequence of illness, Gurland went to Germany, where he sojourned for three years. On his return, he settled at Odessa, and founded there a classic and scientific college of eight classes, with a curriculum including Jewish history and Hebrew literature. In 1888 Gurland was elected government rabbi of Odessa. He died there on March 14, 1890.