É. Apor , I. Ormos (ed.): Goldziher Memorial Conference, June 21–22, 2000, Budapest.

ORMOS, István: The Correspondence of Ignaz Goldziher and Max Herz

ISTVÁN ORMOS clear conscience because although work was not missing still I could have written. But you wrote in your last letter that you can also be lenient f 2

1 still I am sorry for this new opportunity. (Nagyságos Tanár Úr és Igen Tisztelt Barátom. Igen becses levelére, mely még április havában kelt, csak most felelek; azt akartam írni, hogy felelhetek', de tiszta lelkiismerettel nem tehetem, mert ámbár munka nem hiányzott, mégis írhattam volna. Dehát Ön azt írta az utolsó levelében, hogy tud elnéző lenni óija- , de mégis sajnálom az újabb alkalmat.)"" The fact that Goldziher himself wrote to Herz that "he can also be lenient " seems to imply some relationship of intimacy. Now ever since Goldziher's Tagebuch was published in 1978 one has been inclined to see in Goldziher a highly unpleasant misanthrope. Therefore the references to his sociability, kindness and amiability in the reminiscences of colleagues and pupils, and in his obituaries as well as places in the Tagebuch itself, which lend themselves to such an interpretation, one has been tempted to regard as empty signs of obligatory courtesy towards the great scholar. There can be no doubt that Goldziher was an extremely complex personality, who may have given signs of somewhat negative behaviour at times.

2

1 On the other hand, we have a contrary view expressed in the testimonies of younger scholars of Islam such as Johannes Pcdersen,

2

4 K. V. Zetterstéen,

2

5 William Henry Temple Gairdner,

26 or Charles C. Torrey, 7 who all lay special emphasis on Goldziher's pleasant and 2

1 Probably to be emended to magbürin "compelled, forced". (If we retain the original form, the adjective, which also appears in the Qoran (30:15) in the form of a finite verb, has the meaning of glad, happy, honoured, enjoying a state of ease and plenty, an adjective that could no doubt be applied to Herz. But perhaps a certain pun is implied here too: this Arabic word may remind the reader of Hebrew häber, which found its way - via Jewishcoloured German and slang - into colloquial German and Hungarian. It is widely used in modem colloquial Hungarian in the meaning of friend. See Edward William Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon, London 1863-1893, 499a; Etymologisches Wärterbuch des Ungarischen. Ed. Loránd Benkő, Budapest 1992-1997, 538-539 [haver]; Hans Wehr, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (Arabic-English). 4th ed., Wiesbaden 1979, 180.) ~

2 Letterdated Stresa (Lago Maggiore), Hotel Beau-Séjour, 1 August 1897. 2

3 The only reference to negative character traits in Goldziher 1 have come across comes from the belletrist and poet József Patai (1882-1953), the father of Raphael Patai, who maintained that Goldziher had the reputation of an evil man. Raphael Patai, Ignaz Goldziher and His Oriental Diary. A Translation and Psychological Portrai, Detroit 1987,14,78. 2

4 Johannes Pedersen, 'Geleitwort', in: Ignaz Goldziher, Gesammelte Schriften. Ed. Joseph DeSomogyi. (Collectanea II), Hildesheim 1967-1973, vol. I, ix. 2

5 Joseph DeSomogyi, 'Bibliographie [recte: Biographie] Ignaz Goldzihers (1850-1921)', in: Goldziher, Gesammelte Schriften..., vol. I, xxix. 2

<' Constance E. Padwick. Temple Gairdner of Cairo, London 1929, 212-213. 2

7 DeSomogyi, Bibliographie ..., xxx. 166