Abraham Haim Schalit ( he, אברהם שליט) (1898, 21 August 1979) was an Israeli historian and a scholar of the
Second Temple period
The Second Temple period in Jewish history lasted approximately 600 years (516 BCE - 70 CE), during which the Second Temple existed. It started with the return to Zion and the construction of the Second Temple, while it ended with the First Jewis ...
.
Biography
Schalit was born in 1898 in the
Galician town of
Zolochiv Zolochiv, ( ua, Золочів) may refer to the following places in Ukraine:
* Zolochiv, Lviv Oblast, city in Lviv Oblast
* Zolochiv, Kharkiv Oblast, urban-type settlement in Ukraine
{{set index, populated places in Ukraine ...
, then in
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
(from 1918 to 1939 in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and now in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
). He studied at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
. In 1929, he immigrated to
Mandate Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...
, now
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. In 1950, he joined the faculty of History Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was appointed a professor in 1959.
Major works
Abraham Schalit wrote his major works on Herod the Great, Herod and Josephus. The discovery of his lost 1925 Vienna dissertation on Josephus shows a shift in his views. He originally saw Josephus as a bad historian but a patriot, sincerely seeking to further the rebels' cause against Rome. Later he regarded him as a pragmatist.
Awards
* In 1960, Schalit was awarded the Israel Prize in Jewish studies.
* Schalit was a recipient of the Tchernichovsky Prize for exemplary translation.
See also
*List of Israel Prize recipients
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shalit, Abraham
1898 births
1979 deaths
People from Zolochiv, Lviv Oblast
Ukrainian Jews
Jewish historians
Historians of Jews and Judaism
University of Vienna alumni
Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel Prize in Jewish studies recipients
Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine
Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe)
Jews in Mandatory Palestine
20th-century Israeli historians