Compiled from: The Karaite Encyclopedia (Frankfurt, 1995) by Nathan Schur.

Important Persons in Karaim History

Babovich, Nahman hen Salomon (1799-1882)

Babovich, Salomon ben Nahman (1760­1817)

Babovich, Simha ben Salomon (1790­1855)

Babovich, Tobiah Simha Levi (1879­1956)

Benjamin ben Elijahu

Celebi Family

Chwolson, Daniel (1819­1911)

Firkovich, Abraham (1786­1874)

Firkovich Collections

Harkavy, A.Y. (1835­1919)

Jerushalmi Abraham ben Josiah (c. 1655 ­ after 1734)

Judah Halevi (before 1075­1141)

Kazaz, Eliahu (1832­1912)

Kodsi Mourad el- (b. 1919)

Krym, Salomon (1864­1936)

Luzki, Abraham ben Joseph Solomon (1792­1855)

Luzki, Joseph Solomon Moses (1770­1845)

Luzki, Simha Isaac ben Moses (d. 1766)

Mangubi, Shabbethai Eliahu (1836­1906)

Maria Theresa, Empress (1740­1780)

Nemoy, Leon (h. 1910)

Poznanski, Samuel Abraham (1864­1921)

Pampulov, Samuel ben Moses (1843­1912)

Szapszal, Seraya Markovich (1873­1961)

Szyszman, Simon (d. 1993)

Troki, Abraham ben Josiah (1636­1687)

Troki, Isaac ben Abraham (c. 1533 ­ c. 1594)

Troki, Salomon (the elder) ben Aharon ha­

Troki, Zerah ben Nathan ha­ (b. 1578)

Witold, Grand Duke of Lithuania (1392­1430)

Babovich, Nahman hen Salomon (1799-1882)

One of the main leaders of the Karaites of the Crimea in the second half of the nineteenth century. In spite of his senior official position, it was usually A. Firkovich who held real power.

Babovich, Salomon ben Nahman (1760­1817)

One of the leaders of the Crimean Karaites Bibliography: Miller, Leadership.

Babovich, Simha ben Salomon (1790­1855)

Karaite Hakham in the Crimea and the central figure in the early phase of the National Karaite movement. He obtained for the Karaites of Russia the exemption from military service, which continued to be compulsory for Rabbanites. The Karaites of Eupatoria commemorated this event every year by a special prayer. He and his descendants dominated from then on Karaite affairs in the Crimea. His agitation for Karaite interests achieved its main success in 1837, with the granting of religious autonomy. He was helped by Abraham Firkovich, who accompanied him in 1830 on a visit to the Holy Land. In order to be guided in its future policy towards the Karaites, the Russian government instructed Babovich to provide detailed information on the origin, customs and history of the Karaites. He instructed Firkovich to assemble this material. As a result the Karaites were granted in 1840 the status of an independent church, and were put on an equal footing with the Muslims, which gave them far superior rights to those of the Rabbanites. Two dioceses were set up, one of them in Feodosia, in the Crimea, of which Babovich became the first Hakham. He adopted for the Karaites of the Crimea the Rabbanite 19­year cycle of calendation, originally accepted in Turkey by the Bashyazi family.

Babovich, Tobiah Simha Levi (1879­1956)

He was born in Chufut Kale in the Crimea and acted there and in Feodosia as religious teacher. 1910­1930 he served as Hakham in Sevastopol, but was exiled by the Soviet authorities for four years to Simferopol (till 1934). His later years, 1934­1956, he spent as Chief Hakham in Cairo, Egypt. As he was used to the different customs and Halakha of Russia and Turkey, he often opposed the local customs, but was not very successful therein. Also the nationalistic ideology of the European Karaites, who claimed not to be Jews at all, could not be applied successfully in Egypt. Ironically it fell to this outsider to serve as the last Chief Hakham of Egypt.

Babovich published many halakhic articles, ­ mostly on calendation, and two books. Many of his homilies have remained as MSS. He tried several times to defend Abraham Firkovich's writings and theses and also attacked Jacob Mann's "Texts", claiming (correctly) that his knowledge of the Karaite Crimean dialect was insufficient.

Benjamin ben Elijahu

He was a Karaite pilgrim from Chufut­Kale in the Crimea, who visited the Holy Land in 1785/6. He carried alms for the Jerusalem community, and was accompanied by four other Karaites (one of them a woman) and one from Troki, whose expenses were paid by the Karaites of the Crimea, who hoped to induce thus the Karaites of Lithuania to cover in future part of the upkeep of the community of Jerusalem. The group sailed from Eupatoria to Istanbul and from there to Jaffa. It joined forces with the (last ?) Karaite Nasi of Damascus and visited Jerusalem together. The money they carried had been deposited with the Greek Orthodox church in Istanbul, and the draft they had received was passed on to the leader of the Karaite congregation of Jerusalem, Mordehai ben Samuel Halevy. A further sum of 900 piasters was lent by the Orthodox Greeks to Benjamin for the Jerusalem community and he got the Karaites of Istanbul to repay this sum to the Greeks, promising that eventually it would be covered by the Karaites of the Crimea. He composed an itinerary in which he mentions the Karaite communities of Jerusalem and Istanbul, and claimed that in the past there had been a congregation also in Hebron (a claim for which it has been impossible to find any substantiation). He did not visit Cairo, because of an outbreak of the plague and heard that half of the 150 Karaite households there had been wiped out by the epidemic. He also composed some hymns which are included in the Karaite liturgy.

Celebi Family

Prominent Karaite family in the Crimea. Simon Celebi, who arrived there around 1500, was a well known architect. He initiated in 1527/8 the first printed issue of Karaite works, by a Venetian press. His descendants held important posts in the Khanate of the Crimea. Benjamin ben Samuel Aga, the last traditional leader of the Karaites of the Crimea (died in 1824) was connected by marriage to the Celebi clan.

Chwolson, Daniel (1819­1911)

He was born in Vilna, converted to Christianity and was appointed professor for Semitic philology both at the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic theological academics in St Petersburg and also at the local university. He defended Abraham Firkovich's publications against the concentrated attacks on them after his death. Sometimes he had a point, as shown by the fate of the Mandeglis Document, which had initially been published by him (1863). Further he published the Hebrew inscriptions of tombstones from the Crimea (1866) and wrote many books and articles on Jewish history, some of them also with some Karaite contents, such as his "Beitrdge zur Entwicklungsgeschichte des Judentums", Leipzig 1910. He excavated Chufut­Kale in 1878 and 1881, in order to defend his position against A. Harkavy.

Firkovich, Abraham (1786­1874)

He was the central figure of the Karaite National Movement in nineteenth century Russia and the most important collector of Karaite manuscripts. He was born in Lutsk, Poland, but was active mainly in the Crimea. He was sponsored by such local leaders as Simha Babovich, who took him in 1830 on a visit to the Holy Land. Firkovich collected in Jerusalem, Hebron and Cairo numerous old manuscripts. In the years 1831­1832 he transferred his collecting activity to Istanbul, and 1839­1840 to the Crimea (especially Chufut­Kale, which was being left by its Karaite inhabitants). Further he copied old Karaite tombstone inscriptions in the Crimea and Caucasus, many of which he published in his "Avnei Zikkaron" (1872).In 186315 he returned to Palestine and Egypt and obtained, now that he was old, experienced and wealthy, perhaps the most important part of his vast collection of over 15,000 manuscripts.

His discoveries stimulated wide interest. S. Pinsker based his "Likkutei Kadmoniyot" mainly on material supplied by him.H.Graetz and J. Fiirst, too, used it uncritically. Firkovich's thesis was that the forefathers of the Karaites had come to the Crimea in the seventh century BC and thus could not have been involved in the crucifixion of Jesus. Nor had they any connection with the preparation of the Talmud. He believed the Khazars to have been Karaites. His views were obviously politically motivated and were intended to give a "scientific" underpinning to the Karaite National Movement. When in 1839 the govemor­general of the Crimea, Voronzow, addressed six basic questions on the origins of the Karaites to Babovich, Firkovich was commissioned to answer them. His opinions and writings were used by the Karaite leadership also otherwise in its endeavours to distance itself from Judaism and receive full civil rights for all Karaites from the Russian authorities.

Firkovich often came into direct confrontation with the Rabbanites. In 1825 he submitted a memorandum to the Russian authorities, suggesting that the Jews should be removed from the border areas in Russia's west, in order to prevent them from smuggling.His suggestion was, that they should engage in agriculture instead. The memorandum had no effect, but its sentiments did not endear Firkovich to his Rabbanite contemporaries. He was thus accosted once, publicly, in Berdichev by a Hassidic teacher, who accused him of being an ignoramus and heretic. In reply Firkovich composed his biting "Masa Merivah". In another polemic book, "Sela ha­Mahloket" (1834), he turns, in rhymes, against the Hassidim.

These attacks were however not held against him by most later scholars. What they would not forgive, were the numerous changes and outright falsifications, especially of dates, in colophones, or on tombstones, included in his scientific work and in the publications of the Gozlow press when he was in charge of it, in order to make the Karaite community of the Crimea appear much older than it was. Such scholars as H. Strack, A. Harkavy and P.F. Frankl demonstrated soon after his death, that his publications abounded in such forgeries. There is now, however, a revisionist trend (Z.Ankold, T. Harviainen, V.L. Vikhnovich) which explains that modern western standards of scholarship were unknown to Firkovich and to his type of oriental manuscript collectors. He is still vigorously defended by the present day Karaites of the Crimea. Some of the original accusations against him have proved unfounded, as, for instance, when the "Mandeglis Document" used by him, which disappeared later, was recently rediscovered. Even some of his claims as to Jewish­Khazar influences in tenth century Crimea and elsewhere, sound nowadays less outlandish than a century ago. Mainly, however, the academic community finds itself deeply in Firkovich's debt, because of the unique collection of manuscripts which he has bequeathed to it.

Firkovich Collections

Both Firkovich collections were sold by him to the St Petersburg library. It is debatable to what an extent the first one had really been his property, as it had been acquired on behalf of the Karaites of the Crimea with funds supplied mainly by Simha Babovich. By selling it (in 1862), Firkovich became a man of means. The second collection was sold after his death.Both are now in the Saltykov­Schedrin Public Library in St Petersburg.

In the first collection are to be found the manuscripts of his earlier travels 1830 to Cairo, Jerusalem, Hebron; 1831 to Istanbul and 1839 in the Crimea. The second, even richer, collection is the result of his last trip to Egypt and Palestine in 186315. Together they number over 15000 manuscripts.Most of them are Karaite documents, but some 1350 are Samaritan and were purchased in Nablus in 1864.Further, there are also Rabbanite manuscripts."le the Cairo Geniza consisted mostly of single, often badly tom pages, the Firkovich collection consists mostly of complete documents. Thus the 1350 Samaritan documents consist of 18,258 pages. It is therefore highly unlikely that, as has often been suggested, also much of the Firkovich collections originated in the Fustat synagogue named for Ezra the Scribe, where S. Schechter and others found later "the" Geniza. Actually that part of the collections which came from Cairo was obtained from the local Karaite synagogues and Firkovich donated in 1864 to the local Karaite community the then princely sum of £ 200, and received four large boxes of manuscripts, which might have originated in the then decrepit Reb Simha synagogue. In Nablus he obtained ten boxes of Samaritan manuscripts and Tora Scrolls. Under the Soviet regime the collections were reorganized into 14 departments, given new numbers and supplied with a detailed catalogue and card index, in which also articles are mentioned.

Harkavy, A.Y. (1835­1919)

Jewish orientalist, born in Belorussia.He headed the department of Jewish literature at the Imperial Library in St Petersburg from 1877 onward. He was the first scholar to popularize the theory that the Jews of Eastern Europe might derive largely from the Khazars. The library headed by him acquired the two manuscript collections of A. Firkovich and Harkavy published many of their documents. This way he discovered the forgeries made by Firkovich, and after his death he published several articles and a large book uncovering the fraud.He was later joined by such other scholars as H. Strack and P.F. Frankl, but opposed by Daniel Chwolson.He published later also other articles on Anan, Karaism and the bibles found in the Firkovich collections. He wrote some 400 works, the most important of which was lost during the Russian Civil War in 1919, but rediscovered in 1993 in Kiev, in the library of the Ukrainian Academy.

A curious light is thrown on his work by the disappearance of the Mandeglis document, discovered by Firkovich, from the library in Harkavyls charge, which caused some of his harshest attacks on Firkovich and Chwolson. Yet it was rediscovered over a hundred years later, by V.V. Lebedev in the same library. Had it been hidden away by Harkavy to underpin his attacks, or had it genuinely been mislaid?

Jerushalmi Abraham ben Josiah (c. 1655 ­ after 1734)

He lived in Chufut­Kale in the Crimea and was a member of the distinguished Celebi­Sinani family. He defended the Karaite conception of the Torah in his "Emunah Omen" (written in 1712, but published only in 1846). Further he wrote homiletical discourses, liturgical poetry incorporated in the Karaite prayer book and a treatise on ritual slaughter "Sha'ol Sha'al". He was the grandfather of Benjamin Samuel Aga.

Judah Halevi (before 1075­1141)

He was the most important Jewish poet of the Middle Ages. He occupies a niche in Karaite history because of his philosophical work, the "Book of Kuzari". In a letter discovered in the Cairo Geniza he claims to have written it in response to a Spanish Karaite. He included in the book a polemic against Karaism. In addition to the usual topics, such as calendation, dietary law, circumcision, purity, etc., he used there three main arguments: 1. The Karaite use of Idjtihad or Khipus, or diligent striving (which actually was no longer, in his time, a Karaite legal characteristic) is, he claims, a sign of weakness. 2. Analogical Deduction, Halevi argued, is not needed in religion, while tradition is. This argument is one of the central motifs of the "Kuzari" and was directed even more against Aristotelianism and philosophy in general, than against Karaism. 3. Karaite internal disagreements show that they do not have a unitary religion. Here, again, Halevi was somewhat out of date, as he used Yjrkisani's statements for his text.

The real importance of Judah Halevi was, however, not in his polemic, which sounds sometime even somewhat half-hearted. Thus, he, too, based the first section of the "Kuzari" solely on Scripture, with no reference to Rabbinic works. Further, he agreed with the Karaites that God could command action which seems to be at variance with reason ('akl), while Saadia Gaon and Rabbinic Judaism in general disagreed. Possibly, Halevi's desire to end his days in the Holy Land, might have been influenced by Karaism's "Zionist" attitude, as propounded by al­Kudsi and others.

Karaites have returned the compliment. They have come to rely on the "Kuzari" as one of the main sources for their own reconstruction of their history. Basing himself on the talmudic account of Alexander Yannai's persecutions (Kiddushim, 66a), Halevi claimed the Karaite schism to have originated with Yannai's contemporaries, Judah ben Tabbai and Simeon ben Shettah (this had been stipulated already also by Japheth ben Ali). Further he distinguished between the Karaites who rejected the Oral Tradition and the Sadducees, who were the heretics ("minim") referred to in the prayers. This version was adopted in its general lines in the fifteenth century by Elijahu Bashyazi and has remained basic to the Karaite view of their history.

Kazaz, Eliahu (1832­1912)

He headed the academy for Khazanim, founded in 1894 in Eupatoria. He published two books of poems in Hebrew, in 1875 and 1910, and wrote further books in Hebrew, Tatar and Russian.

Kodsi Mourad el- (b. 1919)

He was one of the leaders of the Karaites of Egypt and is now one of the leaders of the Karaites of the USA. He studied at the University of Cairo (BA in 1942) and the University of Rochester, NY (MA in 1963). He was a teacher and principal both in the Karaite and general Jewish school systems of Cairo (1942­1959). He served as secretary of the Karaite Religious Council and as chairman of several of its committees. In 1959 he emigrated to the United States, where he has taught at the University of Rochester, and has handled public relations on behalf of the Karaite congregation of San Francisco. His most important book is "The Karaite Jews of Egypt 1882­1986", Lyons 1987. Further he has published "The Karaite Communities in Poland, Lithuania, Russia and Crimea", Lyons 1993 (as a result of a trip taken in 199 1), and has written several scholarly articles on Karaite affairs.

Krym, Salomon (1864­1936)

He was a Crimean politician, who started as an agronom and later became head of the Ziemstvo of Theodosia. When the Germans took over in 1918 they offered to appoint him president of the Republic of the Crimea they were setting up, but he refused. After their withdrawal at the end of 1918 he did head the local government of the Crimea, from November 1918 to April 1919. When the White Russian General Wrangel controlled the Crimea in 1920, the local inhabitants demanded that the chief civilian authority be again vested in Krym, but the general refused. Krym had started even before the war to agitate for the setting up of a local university in the Crimea, and he did succeed in carrying his plan out in 1918, in Simferopol. With the collapse of the White regime, he escaped to the West, but still helped the University, even from abroad. He was successful, it did continue to exist, and [the University] celebrated in the autumn of 1993 its 75th anniversary.

Luzki, Abraham ben Joseph Solomon (1792­1855)

He was born in Lutsk but moved in 1802 with his father Joseph Solomon Luzki to Eupatoria in the Crimea. He spent some years in Istanbul, where he studied the Talmud and Rabbinic literature. In 1835 he was elected Hakham of Eupatoria, but declined the office, founding instead a Karaite school there, which gained a distinguished reputation. He wrote Iggeret Zug Venifrad, in which he mitigated the previous severe Karaite rulings regarding the marriage law. In "Mishlei Musar" he translated fables into Judeo­Tartar. He prepared also further translations and eight of his liturgical poems are included in the Karaite prayerbook.

Luzki, Joseph Solomon Moses (1770­1845)

He was born at Kukizow, moved later to Lutsk, and from there, in 1802, to Eupatoria in the Crimea, where he became Hazzan of the congregation. He accompanied Simha Babovich to St Petersburg, where they obtained in 1827 the exemption of the Karaites from compulsory military service in the Russian army. He wrote a detailed account of this journey, "Iggeret Teshu'at Jisrael". His brother in law, Abraham Firkovich translated it into the Tartar language. He composed also a prayer of thanksgiving, which was recited by the Karaites at the yearly anniversary. In 1831 he visited the Holy Land.

He wrote "Petah Tikvah", ­ a primer with Hebrew prayers. He added a Tartar translation and translated also B. Mussafia's "Zekher Rav", both forming together "Sefer ha­Hinnukh le­Petah­Tikvah" (the book of education, towards the gate of hope). It was published in Istanbul in 1831. Further he composed a commentary on Aaron ben Joseph's "Sefer ha­Mivhar" (Eupatoria, 1835), a calendar for the years 1859­1901, and liturgical poems, some of which were incorporated in the Karaite prayerbook.

Luzki, Simha Isaac ben Moses (d. 1766)

He was born in Lutsk, near the end of the seventeenth century. In 1751 he moved to Chufut­Kale, in the Crimea, and became the head of the local Bet Midrash, till his death. He copied many of the old Karaite manuscripts which had survived there, and wrote some twenty works on theology, philosophy, Halakha and Kabbalah. On the last subject he composed "Livnat ha­Sappir", on the Sefirot, "Sefer ha­Tappuach", on the Creation, and a commentary on the "Etz Hayyim". His "Or ha­Hayyim", Eupatoria 1847, is a commentary on the philosophical work of Aaron ben Elijah (the Younger), and his "Orah Zaddikim", Vienna 1830, is a concise history of the Karaites, ­ the first attempt in this field (historiography).It contains a list of Karaite scholars, arranged according to their countries of origin. His bibliography there is a first attempt, too. Five of his piyyutim were included in the Karaite prayerbook.

Mangubi, Shabbethai Eliahu (1836­1906)

The family name is supposed to derive from Mangub in the Crimea. He spent his youth in Istanbul and studied there. In 1876 he came to Cairo, and served there as Chief­Hakham, 1876­1906.He formed the first religious council there, in 1901.

Maria Theresa, Empress (1740­1780)

In her name the Karaites of Austrian Galicia were granted on the 24th October 1774 the same status and rights as those of the Christians. The official explanation was, that this was done because of their being mostly farmers and because of their exemplary moral character. Her example was followed in the nineteenth century by the Tsarist authorities of Russia. Her edict can be regarded as the starting point of the Karaite National Movement in Eastern Europe.

Nemoy , Leon (b. 1910)

He was born in Balta, Russia, studied at the University of Odessa, and after emigrating to the USA (1923) at Yale University (1924­1929). It has been claimed that he got the name "Nemoy" at Ellis Island, because of a speach defect. He served later as curator of Hebrew and Arabic literature at Yale's Sterling Memorial Library. He published the Arabic text of Kirkisani's "Kitdb al­AnwAr wa­al Maraqib" (5 vols, 1939­1943), and his widely acclaimed Karaite Anthology, in 1952. Some of his other articles were "Anan Ben David", in Semitic Studies in Memory of Immanuel, Budapest. 1947; "Early Karaism" JQR XL, 1950, 307­315; "Jeshua ben Judah", EJ 3, 4 and many other Karaite articles in EJ; "A modern Egyptian Manual of the Karaite Faith", JQR LXXII, 1971/2, 1­12; "Qumisian Sermon to the Karaites", PAAJR XLII, 1976; and was an editor of the Yale Judaica Series. He brought to Karaite studies an open, sceptical mind, and was one of the first to doubt Anan's position as founder of the sect. Petahia of Regensburg

This well-known Jewish traveller, of about 1180, has the following to say (in the third person): "R. Petahia passed through the country of Tograma (eastern Asia Minor?) and after eight days reached Nisibis; from there onward everybody believes in the laws of Muhammad, and he entered the country of Ararat. He left the high mountains of Ararat (the Caucasus?) to the right and in the Land of Kedar there are no Jews, but there are Minim (heretics). The R. Petahia said to them: "Why don't you believe in the words of the (Rabbanite) Hakhamim?" They answered: "Our fathers have taught us to cut on the eve of the Sabbath, all the bread to be eaten during the Sabbath; and to eat in darkness (i.e. without lightening any candles or a fire), and to sit in our place all day long and not to pray, except for reading psalms". And when R. Petahia told them that they would like our prayer and our Birkat hamason (benediction of the meal) they told him "We have never heard what the Talmud is". And in the country of Ararat he passed through the mountains of Ararat till Nisbis". Nisibis (the present Nesib in S. Anatolia) had a large Jewish population at that time. It is generally assumed that the "Land of Kedar" has to be looked for north of the Caucasus, as Petahia tells of passing through (or around) it earlier in his story. "Tograma" was later equalled with "Khazaria and Assyna and Petahia states that it pays taxes to the "King of Greece", meaning Byzantium. Petahia's route is far from clear. Why should he have crossed the Caucasus and recrossed it soon after, only to return to Nissibis? But then his story is being told by others, and has been heavily edited. The "heretics" he mentions, who do not lighten Sabbath candles and have not heard of the Talmud, do sound like Karaites, or similar sectarians (for instance *Mishawites). This paragraph has been used by all sides in the debate over the possibility of the Khazars having been Karaites, or connected somehow to Karaite history. But it would be unwise to draw any final conclusions from it, before the geographical questions raised by it have been looked into more seriously.

Poznanski, Samuel Abraham (1864­1921)

He was born in Lubraniec in Poland, studied in Berlin and lived later in Warsaw. He was probably the most important scholar of Karaism of the late ninteenth and early twentieth centuries. Only a few of his countless publications in four languages can be mentioned here: The Karaite Literary Opponents of Saadia Gaon, London 1908; Abdul­Faraj Haroun, le grammairien de Jerusalem, REJ, XXXIH, 1896, 24~39, 197­218; The Anti­Karaite Writings of Saadia Gaon, JQR (OS) X, 1897/8, 238­276; Meswi al­Okbari, chef d'un sectejuive, REJ XXXIV, 1897, 161­191; Anan et ses ecrits, REJ XLHI, 1902, 161­107, XLV, 1903, 50­69, 176­203; Geschichte der Sekten und der Halakha, in A. Geiger, Leben und Lebenswerk, 352­387; Die kardische Literatur der letzten dreissig Jahre, 1878­1908, Frankfurt a.M. 1910; The Founders of sects in Judaism during the Geonic Period, Reshumot 1, 1918, 207­220; The early Karaite settlement in Jerusalem, in A.M. Luncz, Jerusalem X, 1914, 83116; Une liste d'ouvrages caraites, REJ LXXII, 1921, 184­191. Further he wrote a detailed article on Karaite history and literature for Hasting's Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, 1915. He published much original material, helped by his erudition in Rabbinic literature and his command of Arabic philology.

Pampulov, Samuel ben Moses (1843­1912)

He was born in Eupatoria and served as its mayor for fifteen years, till 1879.

rest of his life he was the Chief­Hakharn Of the Criniea, and the last

For the the Karaites of the peninsula.Under his of the pre­World War I leaders of

leadership the previous strife and power struggles disappeared.

Szapszal, Seraya Markovich (1873­1961)

He was born in Chufut­Kale(Bakhchisarai), studied at St Petersburg University, where he completed Ph.D. studies in philology and Oriental languages, served as personal tutor to the Iranian Crown­Prince, Muhammad Ali, and when he ascended the peacock­throne in 1907, Szapszal became a minister. He is, however, rumoured to have been at the same time a Russian spy. In 1911 he left Persia and became Chief Hakham of all the Crimean Karaite communities. From 1919 to 1927 he lived in Istanbul. 1927­1939 he served as ecclesiastic head of the Karaites of Poland. He pushed in these years the National Karaite Movement to new extremes, denying all ties to Judaism, even on the religious level. Further, he tried to encourage the use of Karaimsk, as their national language. In 1941 he met the German authorities, after the invasion of Russia, and convinced them of the non­Jewish background of the Karaites (see Holocaust). Under their rule he served as Hakham of Vilna and was used by them in 1942 for confrontations with Rabbanite scholars, such as Zelig Kalmanovich, on the subject of the racial roots of the Karaites. After the war he lived in Troki and Vilna, where he taught at the Soviet dominated Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. He was coauthor of a Karaim­Russian­Polish dictionary (published in 1974) and wrote articles on the Karaites of the Crimea. His "History of the Karaites" has not been published so far. Part of his collections and books are kept in a small museum in the old synagogue of Troki.

Szyszman, Simon (d. 1993)

His father, Borys, lived in Poland 1877­1952. He himself spent his early life in Poland, tried in 1945 to settle in Egypt, but eventually lived in Paris instead. He has written perhaps more extensively on Karaite matters than any other scholar since Poznanski. For instance: Gustaf Peringers Mission bei den Karäern, ZDMG XXVII, (102), 1952, 215­228; A propos du Karaisme et des textes de la Mer Morte, VT II, 1952, 343­348; Les Khazars, problemes et controverses, RHR CLII, 1957, 174­181; Communaute Karaite d'Istamboul, VT VI, 1956, 309­315; A. Firkowicz, faussaire de genie ou collectionnaire hors pai?Bulletin de la Societe Ernest Renan (NS), XXIII, 232­235; Die Karäer in Ost­Mitteleuropa, Zeitschrift für Ostforschung, VI, 1957, 24­54; Le Karaisme, Lausanne 1980. From 1973 he published several editions of the "Bulletin d'etudes Karaites". His material is of special importance for modern Karaite history. As he grew older he became more narrowly nationally minded, and started to attack Rabbanite authors on Karaism at every opportunity. In a 1989 article ("Les Karaites sont­ils destines a etre meconnus?") he goes so far as to blame the Rabbanites for the destruction of the Karaite community of Egypt, and for most other evils that have befallen Karaism.

Troki, Abraham ben Josiah (1636­1687)

He was the son of the physician Josiah ben Judah ben Aaron of Troki. A. Firkovich claimed that he served as physician to King Jan IH Sobieski of Poland. He wrote a collection of mystical treatises named "Bet Avraham"; the medical works "Bet ha­Otzar" and "Sefer ha­Refuah"; the collections of treatises "Massa ha­Am" and "Pas Yeda" and at least three liturgical poems.

Troki, Isaac ben Abraham (c. 1533 ­ c. 1594)

He was born in Troki.He spoke also Latin and Polish and held conversations on theological subjects with Catholic, Protestant and Greek Orthodox clergymen. As a result his famous apology of Judaism, "Hizzuk Emnlunah" (the strengthening of faith), though published only a century after his death, was widely acclaimed and copied. Its penetrating examination of the vulnerable points of Christianity caused it to be translated into Latin with an extensive refutation, under the name "Tela ignea Satanae" (the fiery darts of Satan). Voltaire used some of its arguments and mentioned it as a masterpiece of its kind. Troki might have been dismayed at its notoriety, ­ he had intended it for use by Jewish scholars only. Some of his hymns are included in the official Karaite prayerbook.He is said to have written also some works on Karaite ritual law.

Troki, Salomon (the elder) ben Aharon ha­

He was born in troki, but lived in pasil, in the alte seventeenth century. He was related to Mordecai ben Nisan Kukizow. He wrote several books about the differences between Karaites and Rabbanites, such as "Lehem She'arim", which is built on questions and answers. His "Migdal '0z" turns against Christianity.In "Aphirion 'asah lo" are enumerated and defended the Karaite precepts.It was reissued in 1960 in Israel. Some of his hymns are included in the Karaite liturgy.

Troki, Zerah ben Nathan ha­ (b. 1578)

He was born in Troki.Some of his liturgical poems are included in the Karaite prayerbook. He is known mainly on account of his correspondence with Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, in 1620, on such subjects as theology, mathematics, astronomy, physics and medicine, but also on demons, amulets, divination, dreams and secret remedies. Troki's questions were published by Delmedigo in 1629, his answers, however, only in 1840, by Abraham Geiger. Troki corresponded also with Manasseh Ben Israel.

Witold, Grand Duke of Lithuania (1392­1430)

He was the most successful ruler of Lithuania.He fought the Russians and Tartars, and brought 483 Karaite families from the Crimea to Troki, his capital, and to Lutsk and Halicz, where he wanted to develop trade with the Black Sea countries. With him starts the Karaite settlement of Eastern Europe, outside of the Crimea.

Bibliography:Pfitzner, Grossfürst Witold von Litauen als Staatsmann, 1930.