Israel Davidson

Israel Davidson (May 27, 1870,^[1]Jonava, Lithuania⁣ – 1939, Great Neck, New York) was an American writer and publisher of Lithuanian Jewish heritage. He has been recognized as one of the leading American Hebrew writers in his era. His magnum opus was the four volume Otsar ha-shirah veha-piyut = Thesaurus of Mediaeval Hebrew Poetry (NY, 1924–1933).

Davidson studied in yeshivas in Jonava, Volozhin, and Slobodka. In 1898, he immigrated to New York, worked at a few occupations before earning a Ph.D. from Columbia University.