Records of the YIVO - Vilna Aspirantur 1934-1940

Abstract

The Aspirantur, a graduate training program for scholars of Jewish culture, was founded by the YIVO Institute For Jewish Research in 1935. Led by key figures such as Simon Dubnow, Max Weinreich, and Zalmen Reyzen, the Aspirantur educated students who continued to play an important role in the growth of Jewish studies, including Lucy Dawidowicz, Avraham Sutzkever, and Yosl Mlotek. This collection contains research projects produced by the students, evaluations by their professors, and administrative materials produced in the course of running the program, including planning documents, applications, and correspondence.Inventory: Yiddish, 12 pp., English 8 pp., typedMaterials accumulated by the Aspirantur educational division of YIVO - VilnaThe aim of this YIVO division was to educate scholars who intended to pursue their teaching and research careers in the fields of Jewish scholarship. While the Aspirantur was not an accredited academic institution, it required its students to conduct graduate work in the Jewish humanities and social sciences and in Yiddish language and literature and to write papers summarizing their findings. Some of those papers were later published by YIVO. The division also had a Pro-Aspirantur (introductory) program. The teachers in the Aspirantur program included Simon Dubnow, Max Weinreich, Zelig Kalmanovitch, Zalman Reisen, Jacob Lestschinsky, Raphael Mahler, Philip Friedman.Part of the pre-World War II collections of YIVO in Vilnius, Lithuania. Part of the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Collections Online Project