Abraham Nasatir

Abraham Phineas Nasatir (1903 – January 18, 1991) was an American educator and historian who specialized in early California and the Mississippi Valley areas.

Early life and education

Nasatir was born in Santa Ana, California in 1903 to Jewish parents who had immigrated from Lithuania. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley when he was 19. He largely studied under Herbert Eugene Bolton at UC Berkeley.

Career and contributions After receiving his Ph.D., Nasatir taught Latin American History for one year at the University of Iowa. Beginning in 1927, taught for 50 years at San Diego State University. In 1986 SDSU named a wing of its social sciences building in his honor, along with a named endowed chair in the SDSU History department.

Nasatir was the recipient of four Fulbright fellowships, and traveled to France, Spain and Chile for research. He published 19 books, and is credited with publishing some 300,000 pages of documents, studies and translations. Some of his papers ended up being restored through a freeze-drying salvage process.

Personal life Nasatir was one of four children: three boys and a girl. He married Ida Hirsch; they had no children. He actively supported the activities of the California Jewish community. He died on January 18, 1991, from complications of pneumonia at Mercy Hospital in Los Angeles, California.

Publications