Israel Schapiro studied in a Talmudic Academy in Telz in Lithuania, not far from the place where he was born, then at the university of Strasbourg and in Hochschule (Lehranstalt) für die Wissenschaft des Judentums in Berlin. In 1906 he received a Ph. D. from the University of Berlin. In 1907 - 1910 he taught in the Teacher's College in Jerusalem, and since 1911 to 1913 in New York. He came to the United States in 1910, after spending three years in Israel. In America he co-published Hebrew "Ha-Deror" weekly. In 1916-1927 he lectured Semitic languages at the university of George Washington.
The Library of Congress received 10 000 volumes of Deinard collection, a gift from Jacob H. Schiff. Schapiro organized and run Hebraic division of that collection in 1913. In 1913 - 1944 he run a new Semitic division of the Congress Library in Washington that he expended to the 40 thousand-volume collection of manuscripts and other rare publications.
He retired in February 1944. In 1950 he settled in Israel.
He wrote numerous articles about Jewish history and bibliography for Hebrew and Yiddish publishers. He gained a significant respect as an author, translator, and a publisher. he was a member of several scientific societies.
He published: Die haggadischen Elemente im erzählenden Teil des Korans (1907), Biblio of Hebrew Translations of English Works, in: Studies in Jewish bibliography and related subjects, in memory of Abraham Solomon Freidus (1867-1923), 1929, The Hebrew Collections of the Library of Congress, 1917, a bibliography of Hebrew translation of German works, 1934, Schiller und Goethe im Hebräischen, w: Festschrift für A. Freimann zum 60. Geburtstage, 1935. He also published the work of his father Mashal ha-Kadmoni (with biography), 1925) and Pitgamim shel Hakhamim 1927.
from: Kressel, Leksikon, 2(1967), 969f.; Shunami, Bibl.
Israel Schapiro
Oct. 12, 2011, 3:10 p.m.
Israel Schapiro (born in Sejny in 1882, died June 2nd, 1957), bibliographer, a specialist in Orient, and librarian. He was the son of R. Toviyyah Pesah Schapiro (1845-1924), the author writing in Yiddish and Hebrew, a lecturer in Russia and the United States.