Hava Lazarus–Yafeh (1930–1998; ) was a German-born Israeli Orientalist, scholar, editor, and educator. She known for her work in medieval and modern

Islamic Studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

and interfaith relations. Lazarus–Yafeh was a professor and a head of the Department for Islamic Civilization at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She won the Israel Prize in history in 1993.

Biography

Hava Lazarus was born on May 6, 1930 in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

Province of Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the p ...

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

(present-day

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) to a Jewish family. Her mother was Jadwiga Walfisz, a teacher; and her father was a noted German Rabbi . In November 1938, the Wiesbaden Synagogue, where her father had recently retired from, was destroyed on

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...

. In February 1939, the Lazarus family emigrated to

Mandatory 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 ...

. She attended

Hebrew Reali School , motto_translation = ''Walk Humbly'' , address = Hertzel 16 , city = Haifa , zipcode = 3312103 , country = Israel , coordinates = , other_name ...

in Haifa. In 1954 she married teacher Immanuel Yafeh. Lazarus–Yafeh graduated in 1950 from Gordon College of Education (formerly Haifa Teachers' College). She completed her

BA degree Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1953, and MA degree in 1958 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her Ph.D. was completed in 1966 under the supervision of , the title of her Ph.D. dissertation was "The Literary Character of Al-Ghazzali's Writings: Studies in the Language of Al-Ghazzali". She started teaching at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1962, while she was a student. She was a post-doctoral fellow and visiting researcher at

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 ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, Massachusetts from 1965 to 1966. She served as the head of the Department for Islamic Civilization at Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1968 to 1971. She died on September 6, 1998 in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Publications

Books

* * *

Articles and chapters

* *

As editor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarus Yafeh, Hava 1930 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Israeli Jews Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Israeli orientalists German emigrants to Mandatory Palestine 20th-century Israeli women Hebrew Reali School alumni