![Menahem Stern](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Menahem_Stern.jpg)
Menahem Stern ( he, מנחם שטרן; March 5, 1925 – June 22, 1989) was an internationally acclaimed
Israeli 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 the
Second Temple period.
He was murdered in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
by
Palestinians during the
First Intifada.
Biography
Menahem Stern was born in 1925 in
Białystok,
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 populou ...
. His father was a
Lithuanian
misnaged while his mother came from a
Hasidic family. In his childhood he studied
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and religious texts, but later acquired a general education that included
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
. In 1938 he immigrated to
Palestine with his parents via
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. They settled in
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
, where he studied at the
Hebrew Reali School
, motto_translation = ''Walk Humbly''
, address = Hertzel 16
, city = Haifa
, zipcode = 3312103
, country = Israel
, coordinates =
, other_name ...
. When the family moved to
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
, he switched to Geulah high school, from which he graduated in 1942.
In 1943, after working on a
kibbutz for a year, he enrolled in the
History of the Jewish people, General History and Classical Studies departments at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1950, he received his
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
In 1952, after his marriage to Hava Brenner, the niece of
Hebrew-language
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved th ...
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
Yosef Haim Brenner
Yosef Haim Brenner ( he, יוֹסֵף חַיִּים בְּרֶנֶר, translit=Yosef Ḥayyim Brener; 11 September 1881 – 2 May 1921) was a Hebrew-language author from the Russian Empire, and one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew literature.
Bi ...
, he spent two and a half years at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. Upon his return to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
in 1954 he received the highest research award in Jewish Studies of the Warburg Foundation. After a year he began teaching at the university. In 1960 he received his
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
and was appointed Lecturer of the History of the Jewish people in Second Temple period. In 1964 he was promoted to
Senior Lecturer
Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this conce ...
, in 1966 to
Associate Professor and in 1971 to Full Professor.
Awards and honours
In 1977, Stern won the
Israel Prize, for history of the Jewish people.
In 1979, he was appointed to the Israeli National Academy of Science and became one of its most active members.
He was president of the Historical Society of Israel, a founder of the Zalman Shazar Center and an editor of "Zion". He was on the Executive Committee of the World Union of Jewish Studies and was very active in Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi.
Murder
On June 22, 1989, Stern was murdered by Arab
terrorists
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
while walking to the
Jewish National and University Library
The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא ...
in
Givat Ram
Givat Ram ( he, גִּבְעַת רָם) is a neighborhood in central Jerusalem. It is the site of Kiryat HaMemshala (Hebrew: קריית הממשלה, ''lit.'' Government complex), which includes many of Israel's most important national instituti ...
through the
Valley of the Cross in Jerusalem, as he did every day. He left a wife, a son and three daughters. The annual Menahem Stern Jerusalem Lectures were established in his name.
Poverty and Leadership in the Later Roman Empire, Peter Robert Lamont Brown
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Published works
* ''The Great Families of the Period of the Second Temple'' (1959)
* ''The Documentation of the Maccabee Rebellion'' (1965)
* ''Greek and Latin authors on Jews and Judaism''/ edited with introductions, translations and commentary by Menahem Stern. Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, (c1974-c1984)
* ''Studies in the History of the People of Israel in the Period of the Second Temple'' (1991, published posthumously)
* ''The Reign of Herod'' (1992, published posthumously)
* ''Hasmonean Judea in the Hellenistic World: Chapters in Political History'' (1995, published posthumously)
See also
* List of Israel Prize recipients
References
External links
A page in memory of Menahem Stern in "A People Remembers"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Menahem
1925 births
1989 deaths
Israeli people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent
Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty
Israel Prize in history of the Jewish people recipients
Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
People murdered in Israel
Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine
Israeli terrorism victims
20th-century Israeli historians
Terrorism deaths in Jerusalem
Israeli casualties in the First Intifada
1980s in Jerusalem
Terrorist incidents in Jerusalem in the 1980s