Gavin I. Langmuir (April 2, 1924 – July 10, 2005) was a Canadian

medievalist The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vo ...

historian. Much of his work focused on the Jews of medieval England and the history of

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. Veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, and a

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Life

Langmuir was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. He initially planned a military career, and served as a lieutenant in the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

's Royal Highland Regiment during World War II. He saw service along the

Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall'', was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than ; from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the west ...

from 1944–1945 until he was seriously wounded in battle February 1945. He received a medical discharge. With his military career ended, he decided to study diplomacy. He received a bachelor's degree from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in 1948 and then attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

to study modern diplomatic history. However, his interests shifted to medieval studies; in 1955 he completed his doctoral program with a dissertation on English constitutional history. He subsequently taught at Harvard and then at

.Gavin I. Langmuir, worldwide authority on history of anti-Semitism, dead at 81 (Stanford Report)
Retrieved on Dec-26-2006. Langmuir's friend James Given said that Langmuir's interest in the history of the Jews in medieval England originated in a book he reviewed. He wrote many academic articles and two books on the history of medieval Jews and

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. He died in 2005.

Works

Langmuir's research led to two books published in 1990: * ''Toward a Definition of Antisemitism'' * ''History, Religion and Antisemitism'' ''Toward a Definition of Antisemitism''(1990) drew a distinction between ''

anti-Judaism Anti-Judaism is the "total or partial opposition to Judaism as a religion—and the total or partial opposition to Jews as adherents of it—by persons who accept a competing system of beliefs and practices and consider certain genuine Judai ...

'', in which Christians opposed Jews based on their competing religion and belief system, with ''

'', in which Christians hated Jews based on constructed stereotypes that cast Jews as inherently evil.

Awards and appraisals

Langmuir's research received critical praise from many scholars: * The ''

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' noted, "The learning, passion and unflinching integrity Mr. Langmuir has devoted to unraveling the history of anti-Semitism show why he is a teacher of legendary reputation, as well as a scholar of high distinction." * In 1991, ''History, Religion and Antisemitism'' was awarded the

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until c. 1980) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes ...

and of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In a book published in the year before Langmuir died, Christopher Browning attributes to him the concept of "xenophobic anti-Semitism," a socially motivated rather than religiously motivated attitude that according to Langmuir should be distinguished from a traditional hostility to Judaism that Christianity inherited from a long history of religious differences.Christopher R. Browning, ''The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1942'' (Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 2004), p. 3.

Notes

External links

Gavin I. Langmuir, worldwide authority on history of anti-Semitism, dead at 81 (Stanford Report)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langmuir, Gavin I. 1924 births 2005 deaths Canadian medievalists Scholars of antisemitism Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Harvard University alumni 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian military personnel of World War II University of Toronto alumni Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America