Erich Chiram Brauer was born in Berlin, Germany on June 28, 1895.His parents were Fanny ( Krebs) and Adolf Brauer, who both were born in Upper Silesia , then part of Germany.

Already as a child he showed a great talent in drawing.

Begining from age 10 he suffered from a form of juvenile osteochondrosis of the spine, that is more commonly called Scheuermann's disease. As a consequence he became a hunchback , and from this he suffered all his life.

He was always interested in many subjects : art, politics, science. He was also a born collector : newspaper clips, pictures,art. As a young student in Berlin he became a Zionist and together with his friend Gershom Gerhard Scholem they formed a new intellectual Zionist movement called Jung Judah. They were more interested in Hebrew, and immigration to Palestine than the more established Blau Weiss. Just before the First World War he started his anthropology studies, first in Berlin and then in Leipzig and Freiburg. His dissertation came out as a book:

Dr. Erich Brauer

Zuge aus der Religion der Herero.

Ein beitrag zur Hamitenfrage. Mit 9 karten. Institut fur Volkerkunde, Erste Reihe: Ethnographie und Ethnologie, Siebenter Band. Leipzig: R. Voigtlanders Verlag, 1925 Wrpps, 4to. ii,122pp. 9 maps, biblio., index.

At the same time he did not neglect painting - he took part in nude and scenery drawing courses and also graphic design which he used for additional income. He also participated in publishing the newsletter Die Blau- Weisse Brille together with Scholem. In the mid 1920s he traveled to Palestine and in Jerusalem started to study Yemenite Jews. His anthropological study was published in German and remains the only one of its kind , in any language, even today:

E. Brauer, Ethnologie der Jemenitischen Juden (Kulturgeschichtliche Bibliothek 7), Heidelberg 1934,

At the same time he continued in drawing and painting, and many times illustrated his letters . He was also a talented photographer , a trait that he used in professional and personal life.

He died suddenly after a short illness on May 9, 1942, in Petach Tikva, Palestine. He was 46 years old.

His last book was published after his death :

The Jews of Kurdistan (Jewish Folklore and Anthropology) (Hardcover)

by Erich Brauer

Erich Brauer (Author)

(Author), Raphael Patai (Editor)

Wayne State University Press (May 1993)