Joseph Gerhard Liebes

20th century German-Jewish philosopher and academic

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Joseph Gerhard Liebes" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Hebrew.  (November 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions.

*   * Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
* Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
* You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is `Content in this edit is translated from the existing Hebrew Wikipedia article at [[:he:יוסף גרהרד ליבס]]; see its history for attribution.`
* You may also add the template `{{Translated|he|יוסף גרהרד ליבס}}` to the talk page.
* For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

|

(Learn how and when to remove this message)

Joseph Gerhard Liebes

יוסף גרהרד ליבס
Born| (1910-08-25)August 25, 1910

San Salvador, El Salvador

Died| August 3, 1988(1988-08-03) (aged 77)

Jerusalem, Israel

Spouse| Mira Liebowitz
Awards| Tchernichovsky Prize for Exemplary translation
Academic background
Alma mater|

* Hebrew University of Jerusalem
* Free University of Berlin
* University of Heidelberg

Joseph Gerhard Liebes (August 25, 1910, San Salvador, El Salvador – August 3, 1988, Jerusalem) was an Israeli translator and scholar of Ancient Greek classical literature and Latin literature into Hebrew. He translated Plato's writings into Hebrew.

## Biography

[edit]

Liebes was born in 1910 in San Salvador to a German-Jewish businessman. He was reared and educated in Hamburg, where he studied at a Latin and ancient Greek gymnasium. He was active in the Zionist youth movement Blau-Weis (Blue and White).

In 1928 he went to study Judaism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He returned to Germany after a year, because the level of the Department of Classical Studies was not high enough for his liking. He continued his studies at the Free University of Berlin and University of Heidelberg. He underwent agricultural training in Latvia, where he married his first wife.

In 1933, with the rise of the Nazis to power, his doctoral studies were interrupted and he was expelled from the university due to racial laws. He managed to get a certificate to Palestine after proving they had enough capital. The couple came to Kibbutz Beit Alfa, and after about a year they purchased an orchard and a house in Pardes Hanna-Karkur and engaged in agriculture. The couple had two daughters. They later divorced.

In 1941 he married Mira Leibowitz, the cousin of Yeshayahu Leibowitz. Leibowitz was born in Riga and educated in Berlin. In 1933 she immigrated to Israel. She studied ceramics with Hava Samuel and then went on to study in Paris and Prague. The two still knew each other in Berlin, but the connection between them only intensified in Israel. The couple had two children, both lecturers at the Hebrew University: Tamar Liebes, Professor of Communication, former head of the Department of Communication (married to architect Ulrik Plesner and mother of MK Yohanan Plesner), and Yehuda Liebes, Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought.

In 1943 they moved to Jerusalem and lived in Kiryat Shmuel, Jerusalem. This is where Liebes began his life's work: translating classical culture into Hebrew. He translated German poetry, works from Greek and Latin literature, as well as the works of William Shakespeare. His famous enterprise is the translation of all of Plato's writings into Hebrew: Liebes initially planned to translate only a few dialogues, but in light of the enthusiasm with which they were received by the public he decided to continue translating the rest. All of Liebes' books have been published by Schocken Books, and usually include introductions by him.

In 1955 he won the Tchernichovsky Prize for exemplary translation, for translating Plato's Works and Roman Lives by Plutarch into Hebrew.[1]

From 1961 to 1964, he served as Vice President of the Hebrew University, with the presidents Yoel Rekach and Eliyahu Eilat, until he retired to dedicate himself to working at translation. In 1968, he published his book Plato: His Life and Person. He later translated the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle, and completed the translation of Plato's writings, in five volumes.

Liebes died in Jerusalem in 1988, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Liebes continued to translate even in his later years and translated Homer, but failed to finish it. After his death, his son, Yehuda Liebes, began translating from classical Greek and Latin literature.

## Works

[edit]

* Plato: His Life and Person, Jerusalem - Tel Aviv: Schocken Publishing, 1968.

## Translations

[edit]

* Plato, Plato's Writings, 5 Volumes, Schocken Publishing, 1955–1979.
* Aristotle, Ethics: Nicomachean Ethics, Schocken Publishing, 1973.
* Virgil, Aeneid, Selected Chapters, Introduction and Notes: Yohanan Levy, Schocken Publishing, 1946.
* Plutarch, Lives: Roman Persians, Bialik Institute, 1954.
* William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Schocken Publishing, 1951.
* William Shakespeare, Anthony and Cleopatra, Schocken Publishing, 1952.
* Karl Wolfskehl, The Voice Speaks, Schocken Publishing, 1942 (with Franz Bergbor).
* Friedrich Hölderlin, Selected Poems, Schocken Publishing, 1945.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "⁨דבר⁩ | 16 דצמבר 1955 | אוסף העיתונות | הספרייה הלאומית". www.nli.org.il.

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Israel