Yitzhak Baer ( he, יצחק בער; 20 December 1888 – 22 January 1980) was a German-Israeli historian and an expert on medieval Spanish Jewish history.

Early life

Baer was born in

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...

in the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merge ...

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 ...

, in 1888. He studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and classical

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

at Berlin University, the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

and the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

. He 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 ...

, 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 1930, and began lecturing on medieval Jewish history at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

. He was professor of medieval history at the University from 1932 to 1945.

Awards

* In 1945, Baer was awarded the Bialik Prize for Jewish thought. * In 1958, he was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

, in Jewish studies. * In 1968, he received the Yakir Yerushalayim (Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) award. City of Jerusalem official website

Bibliography

* ''Studien zur Geschichte der Juden im Konigreich Aragonien während des 13. und 14. Jahrhunderts''. Berlin: E. Ebering, 1913 * ''Das Protokollbuch der Landjudenschaft des Herzogtums Kleve. Erster Teil: Die Geschichte des Landjudenschaft Herzogtums Kleve''. Berlin: C.A. Schwetschke, 1922 * ''Untersuchungen über Quellen und Komposition des Schebet Jehuda''. Berlin: C.A. Schwetschke, 1923 * ''Galut/ Jizchak Fritz Baer. Berlin: Shocken, 1936 * ''Land of Israel and Exile to the Medieval Ages''. Jerusalem, 1936. * ''History of Jews in Christian Spain''. Tel Aviv: Am Oved 1945, revised and expanded 1959. * ''Peoples of Israel: Studies in the History of the Second Temple Period of the Mishna'', ''the Foundations of Law and Faith''. Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1955. * ''Exile'' (translated from German): Israel Eldad, Bialik Institute, Jerusalem, 1980. * ''Studies and Essays in the History of Israel'' (in Hebrew), 1985. Jerusalem: Israeli Historical Society, 1985.

References

1888 births 1980 deaths People from Halberstadt 19th-century German Jews Jewish scholars Judaic scholars Jewish historians Historians of Jews and Judaism Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Freiburg alumni University of Strasbourg alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Israel Prize in Jewish studies recipients Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities German emigrants to Mandatory Palestine 20th-century Israeli historians Israeli medievalists {{Israel-historian-stub

Early life

Awards

Bibliography

See also

References