ABSTRACT While David Diringer (1900-1975) is known for his contribution to the history of the alphabet, his life is presented here as a case study in intellectual migration in the first half of the twentieth century. Numerus clausus restrictions in the newly independent countries of Eastern Europe and the lack of provision for higher education in Palestine prompted many Jewish students including Diringer to take up the advantageous conditions offered to foreign students by the new Fascist government in Italy. As one of the small cohort successful in obtaining the requisite Italian citizenship to launch a university career, Diringer’s trajectory was disrupted by the loss of his position and his expulsion from Italy following the 1938 racial legislation. As a refugee academic in Britain, unsuccessful in attempts to reach the US or return to post-war Italy, he was precariously dependent on grants until he finally obtained a university position in 1948.
issue 25 / n. 1 (2024)
