'''William Popper''' (October 29, 1874 – June 3, 1963) was a Jewish-American Orientalist and professor who was associated with the University of California, Berkeley for nearly 60 years.
== Life == Popper was born on October 29, 1874, in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Simon Popper and Barbara Cohn.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Jewish_Year_Book/Ub88AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA166&printsec=frontcover |title=The American Jewish Year Book, 5665 |publisher=The Jewish Publication Society of America |year=1904 |editor-last=Adler |editor-first=Cyrus |editor-link=Cyrus Adler |location=Philadelphia, P.A. |pages=166 |language=en |editor-last2=Szold |editor-first2=Henrietta |editor-link2=Henrietta Szold |via=Google Books}}</ref>
Popper later moved to New York City and attended Brooklyn public schools and the College of the City of New York. He then attended Columbia University, graduating from there with an A.B. in 1896, an A.M. in 1897, and a Ph.D. in 1899. His doctoral dissertation was ''The Censorship of Hebrew Books''. He then went abroad, studying at the University of Strasbourg, the University of Berlin, the Seminar für Orientalische Sprachen in Berlin, the Ecole Speciale des Langues Orientales Vivantes, the Ecole des Hautes Etudes, and the College de France. He was in Europe from 1899 to 1901, followed by travels all over the Middle East from 1901 to 1902.<ref name=":0" />
Upon returning to America in 1902, he began working as ''The Jewish Encyclopedia's'' revising editor and chief of the bureau of translation. In 1903, he was appointed Columbia University's Gustav Gottheil lecturer in Semitic languages.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Adler |first=Cyrus |author-link=Cyrus Adler |last2=Haneman |first2=Frederick T. |author-link2=Frederick T. Haneman |title=POPPER, WILLIAM |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12278-popper-william |access-date=2026-02-08 |website=The Jewish Encyclopedia}}</ref> He was also acting chief of the New York Public Library's oriental department during that time.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Universal_Jewish_Encyclopedia/DL5tAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA601&printsec=frontcover |title=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia |publisher=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc. |year=1942 |editor-last=Landman |editor-first=Isaac |editor-link=Isaac Landman |volume=8 |location=New York, N.Y. |pages=601 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1905, he became an instructor of Semitic languages for the University of California, Berkeley. He was promoted to assistant professor in 1906, associate professor in 1915, and professor in 1922. He briefly returned to Columbia to teach Semitic languages from 1919 to 1920.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Who_s_who_in_American_Jewry_1926/uWrXAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA480&printsec=frontcover |title=Who's Who in American Jewry, 1926 |date=January 1927 |publisher=The Jewish Biographical Bureau, Inc. |location=New York, N.Y. |pages=480–481 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref> He retired as professor in 1945, but maintained an office on campus until he died.<ref name=":1" />
His life's work was the manuscripts of 15th century Egyptian historian Ibn Taghribirdi; he edited five volumes of ''Al-Nujūm al-Zāhirah'' from 1909 to 1929, four volumes of ''Ḥawādith al-duhūr'' from 1930 to 1942,<ref name=":2" /> eight volumes of ''History of Egypt'' from 1954 to 1963, and two volumes of ''Egypt and Syria Under The Circassian Sultans'' from 1955 to 1957. His critical editions and translations helped make that period of Arabic history accessible to non-Arab speakers. He also conducted Biblical research into the literary and stylistic aspects of Isaiah, writing ''Parallelism in Isaiah'' in 1923 and ''The Prophetic Poetry of Isaiah'' in 1931. He was also presented with a jubilee volume of ''Semitic and Oriental Studies'' on his 75th birthday.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Popper, William |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/popper-william |access-date=2026-02-08 |website=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref>
In 1906, Popper married Tess Magnes. The wedding was performed by Tess' brother Judah Leon Magnes.<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 May 1907 |title=SOCIAL |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=JW19070531.2.13&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-------- |work=Emanu-El |location=San Francisco, C.A. |page=8 |via=California Digital Newspaper Collection |volume=XXIII |issue=26}}</ref> Their children were William Popper Jr., Mrs. Ruth Eisen, UCLA astronomer Dr. Daniel Popper, and Joel Popper.<ref name=":1" />
Popper died on June 3, 1963.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=4 June 1963 |title=DR. POPPER DIES; AT U.C. 58 YEARS |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19630604.1.14&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN |work=Oakland Tribune |location=Oakland, C.A. |page=14 |edition=Home |via=California Digital Newspaper Collection |volume=177 |issue=155}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Popper, William}} Category:1874 births Category:1963 deaths Category:People from St. Louis Category:City College of New York alumni Category:Columbia College, Columbia University alumni Category:Columbia University faculty Category:University of Strasbourg alumni Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Category:Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales alumni Category:École pratique des hautes études alumni Category:Collège de France alumni Category:Contributors to the Jewish Encyclopedia Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty Category:19th-century American Jews Category:20th-century American Jews Category:Jewish American historians Category:Jews from New York City Category:Jews from California Category:20th-century American biblical scholars Category:American Arabists