Abraham Harkavy

Abraham Harkavy ( Avraam / Albert Yakovlevich Harkavy, Avraham Eliyahu ben Yaakov Harkavy, Russian Авраам Яковлевич Гаркави; born October 27, 1835 in Novogrudok, Belarus, † March 15 1919 in Petrograd ) was a Russian-Jewish historian and orientalist.

He conducted research among other things Gaonat, Karaites and history of the Jews in Russia.

He was for many years librarian of the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg, which was seen as unusual social success, in view of the then anti-Jewish climate in Tsarist Russia.