Howard Morley Sachar (February 10, 1928 – April 18, 2018) was an American historian. He was

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of History and International Affairs at the

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

in Washington, D.C. and the author of 16 books, as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals, on the subjects of

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

ern and Modern European history. His writings, which have been published in six languages, are widely regarded as solid reference works.

Early, personal life and education

Howard Morley Sachar was born to historian and academic administrator Abram L. Sachar and his wife, Thelma Horwitz, during his father's tenure as a professor of history at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Un ...

. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metrop ...

. He was the eldest of three brothers; his brother Edward J. Sachar became a pioneering biological psychiatrist and David B. Sachar became a gastroenterologist. Sachar completed his undergraduate education at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeducational colleges in the United States. It was established as ...

and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history 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 highe ...

. He married Eliana Steimatzky and had three children: Sharon, Michele and Daniel.

Career

Sachar was a full-time faculty member of the Department of History and the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University for 40 years. He was also a visiting professor at

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

and

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

, and a guest lecturer at nearly 150 other universities in North America, Europe, South Africa and Egypt. In 1996 he was awarded an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

Doctor of Humane Letters The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...

from

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion 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 ...

. He also received the

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. In 1977, for ''A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time'' and in 1982 for ''Egypt and Israel.'' In 1961 Sachar founded

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , p ...

's Jacob Hiatt Institute in

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

, one of the first study-abroad programs in Israel, and served as its director until 1964. Through his connections with the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carry ...

, where he worked as a consultant and lecturer on Middle Eastern Affairs, he was able to obtain funding for the Jacob Hiatt Institute from the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

in 1965. He was a member of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

as well as one dozen editorial boards and commissions. In addition to his books, he was editor-in-chief of the 39-volume ''The Rise of Israel: A documentary history''. Howard Sachar died at his home in Kensington, Maryland, on April 18, 2018, aged 90.

Political position

Sachar was a member of the advisory council of the pro-peace lobbying organization J Street and an advocate of the

two-state solution The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotiation ...

for the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

Works

*''The Course of Modern Jewish History'' (1959; updated 1990) Lib. of Cong. Cat. No. 58-67-57 *''Aliyah: The peoples of Israel'' (1961) Lib. of Cong. Cat. No. 61-12017 *''From the Ends of the Earth: The peoples of Israel'' (1964) Lib. of Cong. Cat. No. 64-12064 *''The Emergence of the Middle East: 1914–1924'' (1969) Lib. of Cong. Cat. No. 76-79349 *''Europe Leaves the Middle East, 1936–1954'' (1972) *''A History of Israel: From the rise of Zionism to our time'' (1976; 3rd edition 2007) *''The Man on the Camel: A novel'' (1980) *''Egypt and Israel'' (1981) *''Diaspora: An inquiry into the contemporary Jewish world'' (1985) *''A History of Israel, Volume II: From the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War'' (1987) *''The Rise of Israel: A documentary record from the nineteenth century to 1948 : a facsimile series reproducing over 1,900 documents in 39 volumes, Volume 1'' (1987) *''A History of the Jews in America'' (1992) *''Farewell Espana: The world of the Sephardim remembered'' (1994; reprinted 1995) *''Israel and Europe: An Appraisal in History'' (1998; reprinted 2000) *''Dreamland: Europeans and Jews in the aftermath of the Great War'' (2002; reprinted 2003) *''A History of the Jews in the Modern World'' (2005; reprinted 2006) *''The Assassination of Europe, 1918-1942: A Political History'' (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sachar, Howard 1928 births 2018 deaths Jewish American historians American male non-fiction writers Historians of Jews and Judaism Historians of the Middle East Columbian College of Arts and Sciences faculty Elliott School of International Affairs faculty Swarthmore College alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni 20th-century American historians American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers