Alumnus of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology,[3] Zinberg was not a professional historian by background or training, but worked as a chemical engineer in Petrograd and pursued literary history as an "avocation.

"[4] He was a member of the St. Petersburg school of Jewish scholars along with Simon Dubnow.

[1] He drew on the works of Moritz Steinschneider and Ber Borokhov as well as Solomon Birnbaum, Maks Erik [pl], and Max Weinreich.

[6] In 1938, NKVD arrested Zinberg for Anti-Soviet agitation (Article 58 of the RSFSR Penal Code).

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