Nasatir, Abraham Phineas. (1904-1991).

Abraham Phineas Nasatir was born in Santa Ana, California, on November 24, 1904. His parents were Lithuanian Orthodox Jewish immigrants, and his father instilled in him an early dedication towards scholarship, both religious and academic. This led Nasatir to graduate from high school at age fourteen, and he received his bachelor's degree from Berkeley in 1921 when he was barely seventeen years old. A year later he completed his master's thesis and quickly pursued his doctorate in history. His mentor, Herbert Eugene Bolton, tried to slow Nasatir down by employing him as a teaching assistant from 1923-1924. The following year Nasatir went to France and Spain on a Native Sons of the Golden West traveling fellowship, and in 1926 earned his Ph.D.

Biographical Information

Abraham Phineas Nasatir was born in Santa Ana, CA, on November 24, 1904. His parents were Lithuanian Orthodox Jewish immigrants, and his father instilled in him an early dedication towards scholarship, both religious and academic. This led Nasatir to graduate from high school at age fourteen, and he received his bachelor's degree from Berkeley in 1921 when he was barely seventeen years old. A year later he completed his master's thesis and quickly pursued his doctorate in history. His mentor, Herbert Eugene Bolton, tried to slow Nasatir down by employing him as a teaching assistant from 1923-1924. The following year Nasatir went to France and Spain on a Native Sons of the Golden West traveling fellowship, and in 1926 earned his Ph.D.

He spent the majority of his career on the faculty at San Diego State University, and in addition to teaching he published scores of articles and seventeen books or monographs. Unfortunately, on June 30, 1985, the largest residential fire to hit San Diego to that date claimed a large portion of Nasatir's life work - nearly 500,000 documents (copies and translations) and 2,500 books. His greatest regret was that no more than thirty percent of these materials had been utilized, and he had intended to donate the entire collection to the Bancroft Library. In spite of this setback, Nasatir continued to work and publish until his death on January 18, 1991.