 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in French. (January 2021)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Baron Albert de Pury (22 December 1940 – 5 June 2025) was a Swiss biblical scholar, historian andexegete. A specialist in biblical history, and the literary and religious traditions of the ancientAncient Near East, he served on the faculty at theUniversity of Geneva and theUniversity of Neuchâtel as a professor of theOld Testament.
De Pury was a member of aHuguenot family fromNeuchâtel that was ennobled byFrederick II of Prussia in 1785.[1] He studied theology at theUniversity of Basel and theUniversity of Neuchâtel before enrolling at theÉcole Biblique in Jerusalem.
From 1966 to 1972, de Pury served on the faculty at the University of Neuchâtel's theology department as a professor ofBiblical Hebrew. In 1975 he published his doctorate on the biblical figureJacob.[2][3] He taught classes on theOld Testament from 1972 to 1984. In 1984 he joined the faculty at theUniversity of Geneva.[4][5] He taught at Geneva for thirty years and served as Dean of Theology for two years.
His academic research focused onBiblical patriarchs, thePentateuch, theBook of Judges, theBiblical canon, and theKetuvim.[6] At the University of Geneva, de Pury initiated the projectThe Pentateuque, which focused on the literary origins of theHebrew Bible.[7] He published the articlesEl Olam,El-Roï, andLahaï-Roï.
De Pury was also a cartoonist and published three cartoons,Hello! in 1992,Big Bang in 1994, andOh, Sorry! And Other Biblical Exclamations in 2007.
De Pury served as the head of the center forAncient Near East Studies. He was a member of the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Racines et Sources Foundation.
He was awardedhonorary doctorates from theUniversity of Zurich and Károli-Gáspár University, Budapest.
De Pury died on 5 June 2025, at the age of 84.[8]
