Salo W Baron
Wittmayer Salo Baron, Salo Baron ( 26 May 1895 , Tarnw , Galicia - 25 November 1989 , New York ) was an American historian of Polish-Jewish Austrian specialist in the history of the Jewish people. He taught at the Columbia University from 1930 until his retirement in 1963.
Biography
Baron was born in Tarnow, Galicia, then a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Poland. His family, wealthy and educated, was part of the Jewish aristocracy. His father was a banker and president of the Jewish community. His first language was Polish, but he knew twenty languages, including Yiddish , the Hebrew Bible and modern , the French and German and was famous for being able to provide high-level conferences in five languages without reading notes.
Baron received rabbinical ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Vienna (Austria) in 1920 and spent three doctorates at the University of Vienna in 1923. He began teaching at the Normal School in Vienna in 1926, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise New York convinced him to go to New York to teach at the Jewish Institute of Religion.
We consider his appointment as professor of history, literature and Jewish institutions to Columbia University in 1929 as the beginning of the academic study of Jewish history in an American university.
According to Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi , Baron "was undoubtedly the greatest Jewish historian of the 20th century. "
He opposed the lachrymose conception of Jewish history, saying that if the pain is actually part of the destiny of the Jews, there are also many cases of joy until the ultimate redemption.
He also tried to integrate the religious dimension of Jewish history in a painting full of Jewish life and to integrate the history of Jews in the larger story of the times and societies where they lived.
On April 24, 1961, Dr. Baron testified at the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem. He explained the historical context of Nazi genocide. About 16,000 Jews before the war, Tarnow, after Hitler , none had more than 20. He had lost his parents and sister.
Translated into French
History of Israel, I. origins in early Christian era. II The first centuries of the Christian era. French edition by Valentin Nikiprowetsky. PUF, Quadriga. 1st edition 1956 and 1957. 2nd edition, 1986
Sources
- (In) This article is partially or entirely from the article in English entitled " Salo Wittmayer Baron "(see the list of authors )
Loading ...