Deborah Lifchitz was a French-Jewish expert on Semitic languages of Ethiopia, who worked at the Musée de l'Homme in Paris and took part in the Mission Dakar Djibouti in 1932-3.
Deborah (Desirée) Lifchitz (at times spelled Lifschitz, Lifszyc or Livchitz) was born in Kharkiv, Russia in 1907.
After her return to Paris, Deborah received a position at the Africa department of the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, and in 1935, she was a member of Mission du Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadero to French Sudan (Mali).
Deborah Lifchitz wrote one book and several articles, which are still considered milestones in the research of Ethiopian languages.
When the Nazis entered Paris, Deborah stayed in the city, and after losing her jobs because of the racial laws she was taken in by her colleague Michel Leiris.