author
Isya Joseph
d. 1923
Best known for an early English study of Yazidi religion, this scholar and translator brought sacred texts and traditions to readers who had rarely encountered them before. His surviving work reflects both deep curiosity and the limits of early 20th-century scholarship.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Isya Joseph was a scholar, translator, and writer whose best-known book is Devil Worship: The Sacred Books and Traditions of the Yezidiz (1919). Sources connected with his work identify him as educated at Columbia University, Union Theological Seminary, and Harvard University, and the book itself presents him as holding B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees.
His work focused on Yazidi religious texts and traditions, helping introduce English-language readers to a community that was often misunderstood in Western writing of the time. That makes his book historically important, even though modern readers may notice dated language and assumptions in both the title and some of the framing.
Available records indicate that he died on February 5, 1923. I couldn't confirm a suitable verified portrait image from reliable page images, so no profile image is included here.