Background
Rosenthal, Franz was born on August 31, 1914 in Berlin. Son of Kurt W. and Elsa (Kirschstein) Rosenthal. came to the United States, 1940, naturalized, 1943.
(, first published in 1956, is a pioneering study by the v...)
, first published in 1956, is a pioneering study by the versatile and prolific scholar Franz Rosenthal (19142003), who (having published an article on mediaeval Arabic blurbs), should have written this text himself. It contains an annotated translation of an Arabic text on a figure who became the subject of many jokes and anecdotes, the greedy and obtuse Ashab, a singer who lived in the eighth century but whose literary and fictional life long survived him. The translation is preceded by chapters on the textual sources and on the historical and legendary personalities of Ashab; the book ends with a short essay on laughter. Whether or not the jokes will make a modern reader laugh, the book is a valuable source for those seriously interested in a religion or a culture that all too often but unjustly is associated, by outsiders, with an aversion to laughter.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9004211489/?tag=2022091-20
(In Knowledge Triumphant, Franz Rosenthal observes that th...)
In Knowledge Triumphant, Franz Rosenthal observes that the Islamic civilization is one that is essentially characterized by knowledge ('ilm), for ''ilm is one of those concepts that have dominated Islam and given Muslim civilization its distinctive shape and complexion.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9004153861/?tag=2022091-20
Rosenthal, Franz was born on August 31, 1914 in Berlin. Son of Kurt W. and Elsa (Kirschstein) Rosenthal. came to the United States, 1940, naturalized, 1943.
Doctor of Philosophy, University Berlin, 1935. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Hebrew Union College, 1987. Doctor of Philosophy (honorary), Hebrew University, 1987.
Doctor of Philosophy (honorary), Tel Aviv University, 1992. Doctor of Philosophy (honorary), University Tübingen, 1993., Columbia University, 1996.
Assistant professor Semitic languages, Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, 1940-1948; professor Arabic,, University of Pennsylvania, 1948-1956; Louis M. Rabinowitz professor, Yale University, 1956-1967; Sterling professor Near Eastern languages, Yale University, 1967-1985; professor emeritus, Yale University, since 1985.
(In Knowledge Triumphant, Franz Rosenthal observes that th...)
(, first published in 1956, is a pioneering study by the v...)
Served with Army of the United States, Office of Strategic Services, 1943-1945. Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science, British Academy (correspondent). Member American Philosophical Society, American Oriental Society (president 1964-1965), Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Société Asiatique (honorary), Deutsche Morgenländische Ges (honorary).