Caspar Levias (February 13, 1860 – February 18, 1934) was a Lithuanian-born Jewish-American Orientalist, lexicographer, and philologist.

Levias was born on February 13, 1860, inŽagarė,Russia, the son of Jacob Levias and Mary Kahn.^[1]

Levias immigrated to America in 1882. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1888, by which point he was living inNew York City and working as a teacher.^[2] He began attendingColumbia College in 1889,^[3] and in 1893 he graduated from there with a B.A.^[4] He later received an M.A. from there. He was fellow in Oriental languages at Columbia from 1893 to 1894, and fellow in Semitic languages atJohns Hopkins University inBaltimore, Maryland from 1894 to 1895. In 1895, he became an instructor atHebrew Union College inCincinnati, Ohio. He published "The Justification of Zionism" in 1899 and "A Grammar of the Aramaic Idiom Contained in the Babylonian Talmud" in 1900, along with a large number of philological essays inThe American Journal of Semitic Languages and theHebrew Union College Journal.^[5] He taught Semitic languages at Hebrew Union College.^[6]

Levias was on the Hebrew Union College faculty until 1905, when he left the College and turned to business. Finding little success in the field, he became associated with the Plaut Memorial School inNewark, New Jersey, from 1910 to 1920. He also lectured at the Jewish Teachers's Seminary in New York City. In 1930, he publishedDidduk Aramith Bablith in Hebrew. He also wrote aboutGalilean Aramaic grammar in Hebrew andLexicon of Medical Terms in Hebrew Literature, neither of which were published before he died. Hundreds of his philological notes were published in the Hebrew quarterlyLeshoneau. Two parts of hisDictionary of Hebrew Philological Terms were published from 1914 to 1915. His study "Who Were the Amorites?", which claimed theAmorites were theAmhars, was published in 1929. In 1891, he and other American Hebraists produced the first Hebrew and Yiddish versions of the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. An ardent Zionist and Hebraist, he published much of his work in Hebrew. In 1911,^[7] he began editing and publishing the Hebrew literary journalHa-Deror withReuben Brainin and Israel Schapiro.^[6]

In 1901, Levias married Irene Schwarz inVienna,Austria-Hungary.^[8]

Levias died at home on February 18, 1934. Rabbi Solomon Foster and Dr.Joshua Bloch officiated his funeral service in Newark.^[9]

• 1860 births
• 1934 deaths
• People from Žagarė
• 19th-century Lithuanian Jews
• American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
• Lithuanian emigrants to the United States
• Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
• Columbia College (New York) alumni
• Johns Hopkins University people
• Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion faculty
• American Zionists
• 19th-century American Jews
• 20th-century American Jews
• Jewish American academics
• 19th-century American academics
• 20th-century American academics
• Academics from New Jersey
• Academics from New York City
• Jewish orientalists
• American orientalists
• 20th-century lexicographers
• American lexicographers
• 20th-century philologists
• American philologists