Nina H. Adlerblum (1881–1974)

Nima Adlerblum was born Nehama Hirschensohn in Jerusalem, Palestine (present-day Israel), then a part of the Ottoman Empire, to a scholarly Jewish family. Both her parents were advocates of the use of Hebrew as a modern language, and she was one of the first children to grow up speaking it every day. The family moved to Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) around 1901. She studied at the Alliance Israelite Française in Paris, then emigrated with her family to the USA in 1904. She earned a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. at Columbia University, specializing in medieval Jewish philosophy. She wrote her doctoral dissertation on Gersonides, the early 14th-century philosopher, later published as A Study of Gersonides in His Proper Perspective (1926). . Her educational philosophy was influenced by John Dewey, whom she met at Columbia and with whom she worked closely. An active Zionist, she founded the national cultural and educational program of Hadassah and served as its national and cultural chair, and as a member of its national board in 1922-1935. Her younger sister Tamar de Sola Pool was later national president of Hadassah. She was a close friend of Henrietta Szold and corresponded with her regularly. Dr. Adlerblum was also involved in the welfare of Jews in other countries and in 1934, wrote a report on conditions in Germany. She later helped obtain the release of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany who had escaped to Italy, where they were imprisoned. In 1971, she returned to Israel. Among her books, Memoirs of Childhood: An Approach to Jewish Philosophy was published posthumously.