Mark Pinson, 72, an avid book collector and scholar, died Sept. 8.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania, he went on to Princeton and then to Harvard, which awarded him a doctorate in Balkan history.

Pinson taught at Tel Aviv University in Israel, Harvard University — where he worked at the Russian Research Center; he was fluent in some dozen languages — the University of Massachusetts and Gratz College.

As a book collector and schol­ar, he specialized in works relating to the Balkans and Judaism in Eastern Europe and America. He donated many of his specialized book collections to insti­tutions of higher learning in America and abroad.

Pinson is survived by his wife, Tre Maria Forlano; and cousins Elaine Freeman, Mich­ael Edelman, and Larry Kirsch­ner.

A memorial service will be held on Oct. 21, at 2 p.m., at Atria Senior Living, 150 N. 20th St., Philadelphia.