Call Number:

Arc MS 40

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

.25 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Raphael Patai papers relating to teaching at Dropsie College, 1949-1953, Arc MS 41, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1949-1953 (inclusive)

Creator:

Patai, Raphael, 1910-1996

Form:

Typescripts and Writings (documents)

Abstract:

Raphael Patai (1910-1996) was a folklorist and anthropologist who authored over thirty books, and worked as a professor at Dropsie College. The Raphael Patai papers relating to teaching at Dropsie College consist mostly of student papers written for Patai's class, dating from 1949 to 1953.

Raphael Patai was born on November 22, 1910 in Budapest, Hungary. Patai graduated from the University of Budapest in 1933 with a Ph.D. in Semitic languages and Oriental history and; in 1936, the Rabbinical Seminary of Budapest ordained Patai. Patai also received a Ph.D. in Palestinology from Hebrew University in 1936. After studying and becoming interested in folklore, Patai helped to found the Palestine Institute of Folklore and Ethnology in 1944. In 1947, Patai published his first book titled Man and Temple In Ancient Jewish Myth and Ritual. In that same year, Patai immigrated to the United States and accepted a fellowship at the Viking Fund, now the Wenner-Gren Foundation, before becoming a faculty member at Dropsie College in 1948. Patai taught at Dropsie College from 1948 to 1957. In addition to Dropsie College, Patai taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, the New School, New York University, Ohio State University, Princeton University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. According to Patai's obituary written by the late Dan Ben-Amos, "In his lifetime he wrote over 30 books and edited 13 more" (13). According to the finding aid for the Raphael Patai papers at the New York Public Library, "He also directed (1955-1956) a research project on Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan for the Human Relations Area Files, Inc. (New Haven, Connecticut) and prepared a special report on social conditions in the Middle East for the United Nations in 1952." Raphael Patai died in 1996 in Tuscon, Arizona.

Works cited:

Ben-Amos, Dan. "Obituary: Raphael Patai (1910-1996)." The Journal of American Folklore, vol. 110, no. 437, 1997, pp. 314–16. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/541163. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.

Raphael Patai Papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.

The Raphael Patai papers relating to teaching at Dropsie College consist mostly of student papers written for Patai's class, dating from 1949 to 1953. There are twelve writing assignments by nine students of Patai's at Dropsie College. The majority of the writings concern Israel, the Histadrut and Zionism. Most of the writings are handwritten, while a few were typed. In addition to the writings by his students, this collection contains the program for a 1953 "Colloquium on Islamic Culture in its Relation to the Contemporary World," as well as the writing digest for a paper which Patai wrote for the conference.