Jacob Leib Talmon (
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 ...
: יעקב טלמון; June 14, 1916 – June 16, 1980) was Professor of Modern 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 has been described as a 'Cold War liberal' because of the
anti-Marxism
Criticism of Marxism (also known as Anti-Marxism) has come from various political ideologies and academic disciplines. This includes general intellectual criticism about dogmatism, a lack of internal consistency, criticism related to materialism ...
which permeates his main works.
He studied the
genealogy of
totalitarianism, arguing that political
Messianism stemmed from the
French Revolution, and stressed the similarities between
Jacobinism and
Stalinism
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...
. He coined the terms "
totalitarian democracy
Totalitarian democracy or anarcho-monarchism is a term popularized by Israeli historian Jacob Leib Talmon to refer to a system of government in which lawfully elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation state whose citizens, whi ...
" and "
Messianic democracy
Totalitarian democracy or anarcho-monarchism is a term popularized by Israeli historian Jacob Leib Talmon to refer to a system of government in which lawfully elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation state whose citizens, wh ...
/
political Messianism
Totalitarian democracy or anarcho-monarchism is a term popularized by Israeli historian Jacob Leib Talmon to refer to a system of government in which lawfully elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation state whose citizens, wh ...
".
Biography
Talmon was born in
Rypin
Rypin (german: Rippin) is a town in north-central Poland, in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, about 50 km east of Toruń. It is the capital of Rypin County. Population is 16,950 (2009).
History
Rypin was founded in the Middle Ages, and ...
, a town in central Poland, into an
Orthodox Jewish family. He left in 1934 to study at the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem, then in the
British Mandate of Palestine, now
Israel. He continued his studies in France but left for London after the Nazi invasion; in 1943 he was awarded a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
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** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
from the
London School of Economics. His main works are ''The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy'' and ''Political Messianism: The Romantic Phase''. Talmon argued that
Rousseau's position may best be understood as "totalitarian democracy", a philosophy in which liberty is realized "only in the pursuit and attainment of an absolute collective purpose." Following the
1967 Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Jun ...
, Talmon engaged in a debate with
Arnold J. Toynbee
Arnold Joseph Toynbee (; 14 April 1889 – 22 October 1975) was an English historian, a philosopher of history, an author of numerous books and a research professor of international history at the London School of Economics and King's Colleg ...
on the role of Jews and Zionism in history.
Talmon died in
Jerusalem on June 16, 1980, two days after his 64th birthday.
Awards
In 1957, Talmon 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 ...
, for
social sciences.
Major works
''The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy'', London: Secker & Warburg, vol. 1: 1952, vol. 2: 1960* ''The Nature of Jewish History-Its Universal Significance'', 1957
''Political Messianism – The Romantic Phase'', 1960* ''The Unique and The Universal'', 1965
''Romanticism and Revolt'', 1967* ''Israel among the Nations'', 1968
* ''The Age of Violence'', 1974
''The Myth of Nation and Vision of Revolution – The Origins of Ideological Polarization in the 20th Century'', 1981ref>The work was unpublished at the time of his death; ''The New York Times'', June 18, 1980, p. 38.
* ''The Riddle of the Present and the Cunning of History'', 2000 (Hebrew, p.m.)
See also
*
Totalitarian democracy
Totalitarian democracy or anarcho-monarchism is a term popularized by Israeli historian Jacob Leib Talmon to refer to a system of government in which lawfully elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation state whose citizens, whi ...
*
List of Israel Prize recipients
This is a complete list of recipients of the Israel Prize from the inception of the Prize in 1953 through to 2022.
List
For each year, the recipients are, in most instances, listed in the order in which they appear on the official Israel Prize ...
References
External links
Two Statements on the Mid-East War 1973
* Arie Dubnov,
A tale of trees and crooked timbers: Jacob Talmon and Isaiah Berlin on the question of Jewish Nationalism, History of European Ideas, Vol. 34, No. 2
* Arie Dubnov,
Priest or Jester? Jacob L. Talmon (1916-1980) on History and Intellectual engagement (Introduction essay), History of European Ideas, Vol. 34, No. 2
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talmon, Jacob
Talmon, J. L.
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Israeli Ashkenazi Jews
Israeli Orthodox Jews
Talmon, J. L.
Talmon, J. L.
Talmon, J. L.
Orthodox Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
People from Rypin County
Polish emigrants to Israel
Polish Orthodox Jews
20th-century Israeli historians
20th-century political scientists