Erasmus Smith's Professor of Hebrew

The Erasmus Smith's Professor of Hebrew is a professorship at Trinity College Dublin. A lectureship in Oriental Languages had been founded in 1637 and later endowed by Erasmus Smith's estate in 1724. The endowment was increased in 1762 to create a Professorship in Oriental Languages.^[1] The title of the chair changed to Professor of Hebrew in 1849. The chair was elevated to a Regius Professorship in 1855 by Royal Statute. However, the Board of Trinity College did not issue a decree setting out the duties or salary of the Professorship and it was presumed that the Professorship did not actually exist until called into creation by decree. By 1878, the Board had postponed the regular creation of the Regius Professorship and the title reverted to Erasmus Smith's Professor of Hebrew.^[2]