Giuseppe Veltri

Giusepper Veltri is a leading scholar in Jewish Studies and Comparative Religion. Trained in Berlin under Peter Schäfer and Carsten Colpe, and later mentored in Rome by Roger Le Déaut, he developed a strong foundation in ancient Judaism and textual traditions. From 1990 to 1996, he worked on major research projects funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), culminating in a habilitation at the Free University of Berlin on the intersection of magic, Jewish law, and the history of science—still considered a seminal work in the field. Appointed in 1996 as Professor of Judaica/Jewish Studies at the University of Halle-Wittenberg, he later founded the Leopold Zunz Center at the Leucorea Foundation in 1998. There, he led significant editorial initiatives, including transforming the EAJS Newsletter into the peer-reviewed European Journal of Jewish Studies and launching the Studies in Jewish Culture and History book series, both published by Brill. He has held guest professorships across Europe and was awarded an honorary professorship in Leipzig in 2010, the same year his department received the Emil Fackenheim Prize for Tolerance and Understanding. At Halle, he played a central role in institutionalizing Jewish Studies post-reunification, growing it into a robust academic program with a strong research and teaching profile. His work spans five key areas: ancient Judaism, medieval philosophy, Renaissance and early modern thought, the Wissenschaft des Judentums, and Jewish skepticism. He has led numerous DFG-funded projects, including studies on Midrash Tehillim, premodern Hebrew terminology, and digital archiving of Zunz’s papers. His scholarship includes seven monographs, over a dozen edited volumes, and more than 120 articles in several languages. He is a member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature (Mainz), the Accademia Pontaniana (Naples), and continues to shape the field through both academic leadership and international collaboration.