Julius Brutzkus
Encyclopedia
Julius Davidovich Brutzkus or Judah Loeb Brutzkus ' onMouseout='HidePop("63728")' href="/topics/Palanga">Palanga
– January 27, 1951 in Tel Aviv
) was a Lithuanian Jewish historian, scholar, and politician.
He was born in 1870 in Palanga
, in the Russian Empire
, which earlier had been part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
. His brother was the economist Boris Brutzkus
. Julius studied in Moscow at the gymnasium
and the University of Moscow. His family, along with thousands of other Jewish families, was expelled from the city in 1892 (see May Laws
). He was able to continue his education and received his doctorate in 1894. Brutzkus took part in the Russian Jewish bibliographical work, "" (Systematic Index of Literature concerning Jews, "Sistematicheskiy Ukazatel Literatury o Yevreyakh"). Beginning in 1895, Brutzkus contributed to the Russian-Jewish periodical Voskhod
. In 1899 he was appointed assistant editor of that periodical.
Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Brutzkus authored a vast array of articles and books in Russian
, Lithuanian
, Polish
, English
, German
, Yiddish
, Hebrew, and French
on the history of the Jews in Russia; he was particularly intrigued with the history of the Khazars
and the early Rus' Khaganate
. He also wrote numerous works on the economic and political history of Eastern Europe
and the cultural history of Mizrahi Jewry.
In 1923 he served as Minister for Jewish Affairs
in the Lithuania
n government and was elected to the Lithuanian Parliament
in November of that year.
Brutzkus was an ardent Zionist and encouraged Jews to engage in political action and self-defense.
Palanga
Palanga and beautiful sand dunes. Officially Palanga has the status of a city municipality and includes Šventoji, Nemirseta, Būtingė and other settlements, which are considered as part of the city of Palanga.-Legend:...
– January 27, 1951 in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
) was a Lithuanian Jewish historian, scholar, and politician.
He was born in 1870 in Palanga
Palanga
Palanga and beautiful sand dunes. Officially Palanga has the status of a city municipality and includes Šventoji, Nemirseta, Būtingė and other settlements, which are considered as part of the city of Palanga.-Legend:...
, in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, which earlier had been part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
. His brother was the economist Boris Brutzkus
Boris Brutskus
Boris Davydovich Brutskus, ', Latvian: Boriss Bruckus, , German: Boris Brutzkus Boris (Ber) Davydovich Brutskus, ', Latvian: Boriss Bruckus, , German: Boris Brutzkus Boris (Ber) Davydovich Brutskus, ', Latvian: Boriss Bruckus, , German: Boris Brutzkus (October 15/October 3 (Russian information),...
. Julius studied in Moscow at the gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
and the University of Moscow. His family, along with thousands of other Jewish families, was expelled from the city in 1892 (see May Laws
May Laws
Temporary regulations regarding the Jews were proposed by minister of internal affairs Nikolai Ignatyev and enacted on May 15 , 1882, by Tsar Alexander III of Russia...
). He was able to continue his education and received his doctorate in 1894. Brutzkus took part in the Russian Jewish bibliographical work, "" (Systematic Index of Literature concerning Jews, "Sistematicheskiy Ukazatel Literatury o Yevreyakh"). Beginning in 1895, Brutzkus contributed to the Russian-Jewish periodical Voskhod
Voskhod
Voskhod may refer to:*Voskhod programme, the Soviet programme of human spaceflight*Voskhod spacecraft, a spacecraft used in the Voskhod programme*Voskhod rocket, a rocket that was used to launch Voskhod spacecraft...
. In 1899 he was appointed assistant editor of that periodical.
Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Brutzkus authored a vast array of articles and books in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
, Hebrew, and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
on the history of the Jews in Russia; he was particularly intrigued with the history of the Khazars
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
and the early Rus' Khaganate
Rus' Khaganate
Rus' khaganate is a historiographical term for the formative phase of the Rus state in the 9th century AD....
. He also wrote numerous works on the economic and political history of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and the cultural history of Mizrahi Jewry.
In 1923 he served as Minister for Jewish Affairs
Lithuanian Ministry for Jewish Affairs
The Ministry for Jewish Affairs was an interwar Lithuanian government portfolio.This ministry was established as a result of bargaining between the Jewish community leaders and the Lithuanian government to gain the support of the latter in the peace conference negotiations over the boundaries of...
in the Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n government and was elected to the Lithuanian Parliament
Seimas
The Seimas is the unicameral Lithuanian parliament. It has 141 members that are elected for a four-year term. About half of the members of this legislative body are elected in individual constituencies , and the other half are elected by nationwide vote according to proportional representation...
in November of that year.
Brutzkus was an ardent Zionist and encouraged Jews to engage in political action and self-defense.
Selected works
- "Pershi zvistki pro Evreev n Polshchi ta na Rusi". Nankovyi Zbirnyk. 24 (1927), 3-11
- "Bukhara." Encyclopaedia JudaicaEncyclopaedia JudaicaThe Encyclopaedia Judaica is a 26-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people and their faith, Judaism. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, holidays, language, scripture, and religious teachings...
. vol. 4. Berlin, 1929. p. 1126. - Zeitschrift für die Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland. Berlin, 1931.
- "Di Geshikhte fun di Bergyiden oyf kavkaz." (History of the Jewish MountaineersMountain JewsHighland Jews, Mountain Jews or Kavkazi Jews also known as Juvuro or Juhuro, are Jews of the eastern Caucasus, mainly of Azerbaijan and Dagestan. They are also known as Caucasus Jews, Caucasian Jews, or less commonly East Caucasian Jews, because the majority of these Jews settled the eastern part...
in DagestanDagestanThe Republic of Dagestan is a federal subject of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region. Its capital and the largest city is Makhachkala, located at the center of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea...
, CaucasiaCaucasusThe Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
), YIVOYIVOYIVO, , established in 1925 in Wilno, Poland as the Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut , or Yiddish Scientific Institute, is a source for orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to the Yiddish language...
Studies in History, vol.2. Vilna, 1937. (in Yiddish) - "The Khazar Origin of Ancient Kiev". Slavonic and East European Review, XXII, 108-124. 1944.
External links
- BRUTZKUS, JUDAH LOEB BEN DAVID in the Jewish EncyclopediaJewish EncyclopediaThe Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...
.