Joseph H. Silverman

Joseph H. Silverman (October 15, 1924 – March 23, 1989) was an American Hispanist scholar and professor of Spanish literature at the University of Southern California and the University of California at Los Angeles and Santa Cruz.

Silverman specialized in Spanish Golden Age literature, especially the comedia and the picaresque novel, and the role of converts from Judaism in Spanish culture. He collaborated with fellow Hispanist scholars Samuel G. Armistead and Israel J. Katz in the study of the literature of the Sephardic Jews. While at UC Santa Cruz, Silverman served as provost of the Adlai E. Stevenson College from 1974 to 1981. Silverman published nearly 300 books, articles, and reviews throughout his career.

Biography Joseph H. Silverman was born in Bronx, New York, on October 15, 1924. He died of stomach cancer in Santa Cruz, California, on March 23, 1989.

Education Silverman attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn, New York,

Selected works Diez romances hispánicos en un manuscrito sefardí de la isla de Rodas, with Samuel Armistead, 1962 The Judeo-Spanish ballad chapbooks of Yacob Abraham Yoná, 1971 Judeo-Spanish Ballads from Bosnia, with Samuel Armistead, 1971 Romances judeo-españoles de Tánger, with Samuel Armistead, 1977 Tres calas en el romancero, with Samuel Armistead, 1979 Hispania Judaica: Studies on the history, language and literature of the Jews in the Hispanic world, with Samuel Armistead and Josep M. Sola-Solé, 1980 Judeo-Spanish Ballads from New York, with Samuel Armistead, 1981 Seis romancerillos de cordel sefardíes, with Samuel Armistead and Iacob M. Hassán, 1981 En torno al romancero sefardí: hispanismo y balcanismo de la tradición judeo-española, with Samuel Armistead, 1982 Folk Literature of the Sephardic Jews, with Samuel Armistead and Israel J. Katz 1972-1994 (three volumes)

Select Awards and Honors Source: National Endowment for the Humanities Senior Fellowship (1971–72) University of Chicago Folklore First Prize (1973) Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship (1977–78)