Ismar David
Ismar David (27 August 191026 February 1996) was a calligrapher, graphic designer, type designer architectural designer, illustrator and educator. Ismar David was born on 27 August 1910, in Breslau (Wrocław), then part of the German Empire, to Rosa and Wolff David. He was apprenticed to a house painter in Breslau from 1925 to 1928, when he went to Berlin.
Ismar David
- Born
- 27 August 1910
- Birthplace
- Breslau (Wrocław), German Empire
- Died
- 26 February 1996
- Place of death
- New York City, U.S.
- Occupation
- Calligrapher, graphic designer, type designer
- Known for
- Designed David Hebrew typeface
- Nationality
- Israel · United States · Germany
- Fields
- illustration · graphics · typography
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Ismar David (27 August 191026 February 1996) was a calligrapher, graphic designer, type designer architectural designer, illustrator and educator. Ismar David was born on 27 August 1910, in Breslau (Wrocław), then part of the German Empire, to Rosa and Wolff David. He was apprenticed to a house painter in Breslau from 1925 to 1928, when he went to Berlin.
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q12403862 · wikipedia · Ismar David
In this article
Biography
Biography
There, he went to art school at Städtische Kunstgewerbe- und Handwerkerschule in Charlottenburg. • Illustration — A Hanukkah lamp designed by Ismar David combines a series of pointed arches, familiar from traditional medieval Hanukkah lamps, with clean contemporary lines. He left school in 1932 and moved to Jerusalem, then under the Mandate for Palestine, where he worked with the Jewish National Fund to design golden books—works in which the fund's donors were profiled. While in Jerusalem, David began to design a typeface family for the Hebrew script called David Hebrew. • Illustration — Cover design from the first-edition dust jacket of the 1963 novel V. by Thomas Pynchon, designed by Ismar David David settled permanently in New York City in 1953. David's art often accompanied religious texts. He died on 26 February 1996 in New York City.
Key facts
Key facts
• Born — 27 August 1910 • Birthplace — Breslau (Wrocław), German Empire • Died — 26 February 1996 • Place of death — New York City, U.S. • Occupation — Calligrapher, graphic designer, type designer • Known for — Designed David Hebrew typeface
Identity
Identity
Ismar David is recorded with the occupation graphic designer. Recorded as illustrator, designer and calligrapher.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1910
Ismar David was born on 27 August 1910.
1996
Ismar David died on 26 February 1996.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Wrocław.
Birth place
New York City.
Death place
Publications
• The Hebrew Letter: Calligraphic Variations (1990)
Ismar David Archive
Ismar David Archive
The Cary Graphic Arts Collection, a rare book library on the history of graphic communication, holds the Ismar David Papers. The collection contains correspondence, personal papers, photographs, writings, artwork, and publications that document David's life and career.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q12403862: Ismar David
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Ismar David”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Citations
References
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authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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