born Sept. 10, 1860, Mstislavl, Russia
died December 1941, Riga, Latvia, U.S.S.R.
Russian Jewish historian.
Largely self-educated, he gained notice as a scholar of Jewish history before the Bolshevik Revolution prompted him to leave his native Russia for Germany in 1922. He emphasized the cultural autonomy of the Jewish people throughout history, rejecting assimilation but also opposing Zionism as unrealistic. His best-known works were History of the Jews (10 vol., 192530) and History of Hasidism (1931). He fled Nazi Germany in 1933 for Riga, Latvia, where he was eventually killed by the Germans.