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 opposing ...
, 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 st ...
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 ...
, and a
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 ...
at
Stanford University.
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 anch ...
. 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 res ...
's
Royal Highland Regiment during World War II. He saw service along the
Siegfried Line 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 university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
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 high ...
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
Stanford University.
[Gavin I. Langmuir, worldwide authority on history of anti-Semitism, dead at 81 (Stanford Report)](_blank)
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 ''
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 ...
'', 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'' 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
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