Draft:Simon van den Bergh II

Simon van den Bergh II (1882–1978) was a Dutch scholar of Islamic studies, known for his work on medieval Islamic philosophy He was born on November 16, 1882, in Oss, the Netherlands, into a prominent Dutch-Jewish family. After early education in the Netherlands, he developed a strong interest in Oriental studies and Islamic philosophy. In 1910, van den Bergh married Sonia (“Sara”) Pokrojski in Edinburgh, Scotland. He spent much of his later life in academic research and translation, and ultimately passed away in 1978 in Monte Carlo, Monaco, at the age of 95.

Career

He specialized in the study of medieval Muslim philosophers, especially Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Van den Bergh is best known as the critical editor and translator of Averroes’ work Tahāfut al-Tahāfut (The Incoherence of the Incoherence), which he translated from Arabic into English. This translation was first published in two volumes in 1954 (for the E.J.W. Gibb Memorial Trust and Luzac & Co.) and included an extensive introduction and scholarly notes. Contemporary reviewers praised van den Bergh’s English rendition as a “smoothly readable” translation with an excellent introduction in Volume I (demonstrating the depth of his insight into Islamic thought). In his commentary on Tahāfut al-Tahāfut, van den Bergh advanced original interpretations – for example, he argued that the Muslim theological tradition of kalām was influenced by Greek Stoicism, even suggesting that the term mutakallimūn (dialecticians) was derived from the Stoics’ own label for themselves (dialektikoi). Such analyses by van den Bergh helped illuminate the Hellenistic philosophical influences on Islamic theology.

Van den Bergh’s scholarly engagement with Islamic philosophy began early in his career. As early as 1916, he published a study and partial translation of the Persian philosopher Shihab al-Din Suhrawardī’s work Hayakil al-Nur (“The Temples of Light”) in a Dutch philosophy journalphilarchive.org. This demonstrates his long-standing interest in a broad range of Islamic philosophical traditions, from Illuminationist philosophy (Suhrawardī) to Aristotelianism in the Islamic West (Averroes). Throughout his career, he wrote in multiple languages (Dutch and English) but primarily made his research accessible in English, translating from Arabiccatalogue.bnf.fr to reach a wider scholarly audience.

In the mid-20th century, he was affiliated with Oxford University’s Oriental Studies circle. Notably, he served as a mentor and dissertation advisor to younger scholars: for example, Fazlur Rahman (the prominent Pakistani-American Islamic thinker) completed his D.Phil. at Oxford under the guidance of Prof. van den Bergh and the renowned Arabist H.A.R. Gibb

Through such roles, van den Bergh influenced a new generation of Islamic studies scholars. His work was recognized as part of major scholarly initiatives – his Averroes translation was published under UNESCO’s “Collection of Great Works” series with the Gibb Memorial Trust underscoring its importance in bridging Islamic thought with Western scholarship. In sum, Simon van den Bergh’s contributions lie in making foundational Islamic philosophical texts and ideas accessible to Western audiences and providing erudite commentary that highlighted the continuity between Greek, Islamic, and later European philosophical traditions.

Family Background and Connection to Margarine Business

Simon van den Bergh the Islamic scholar had a notable family background, being directly related to the Van den Bergh industrialist family famous for the margarine business. In fact, he was the grandson of Simon van den Bergh (1819–1907), the Dutch entrepreneur who founded a margarine manufacturing empire in the 19th century The elder Simon van den Bergh (for whom the scholar was named) established a margarine factory in Oss in 1872 with the help of his sons – including his son Isaac van den Bergh, who was the scholar’s father. In 1927 the Van den Bergh company joined a merger that, in 1930, formed the multinational firm Unilever (through the union of Margarine Unie with Lever Brothers)

The Islamic scholar Simon van den Bergh was the son of Isaac van den Bergh (1853–1945) and Clara van Leer, as documented in Dutch genealogical records. Isaac van den Bergh was one of the five sons of the margarine magnate Simon (Sr.), which means the scholar was a direct descendant of the margarine company’s founding family. This makes Simon van den Bergh (the scholar) the grandson of the margarine pioneer who co-founded what eventually became Unilever. There is no indication that he himself was involved in the margarine business; instead, his cousins and uncles (such as Samuel van den Bergh, 1864–1941) continued in the family’s commercial footsteps.