Nehemia Levtzion (; November 24, 1935 — August 15, 2003) was an Israeli scholar of African history, Near East, Islamic, and African studies, and the President of the Open University of Israel from 1987 to 1992. He was also the Executive Director of the

Van Leer Jerusalem Institute The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute is a center for interdisciplinary study in the humanities and social sciences, and the development of new ways of addressing questions of global concern that hold special importance for Israeli society and the r ...

from 1994 to 1997.

Early and personal life

Levtzion was born in the moshav of Be'er Tuvia. His parents were Pnina (née Perlow) and Aron Lubetski, who later changed their surname to Levtzion, and he had an older sister named Hanna. He was Jewish, and had four children."Nehemia Levtzion; 1935—2003,"
''Sudanic Africa'', 14, 2003, 21-32. His wife Tirtza was a teacher and deputy head of Jerusalem's Gymnasia Rehavia high school in Jerusalem. They lived for a time in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, where he studied the spread of Islam in Africa; the family also lived in Beit Hakerem in Jerusalem. Levtzion completed a dissertation at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in 1965.

Career

Levtzion was a scholar of African history, Near East, Islamic, and African studies, and especially

Islam in Africa Islam in Africa is the continent's second most widely professed faith behind Christianity. Africa was the first continent into which Islam spread from the Middle East, during the early 7th century Common Era, CE. Almost one-third of the world' ...

. He taught at (starting in 1965) and was Professor of History and Asian and African Studies and the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities (1978-1981) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Director of the Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East (1982-1987), the President of the Open University of Israel (1987-1992), the Executive Director of the

(1994-1997), and the Chairman of the Council for Higher Education in Israel’s Planning and Budgeting Committee (1997-2003). The Nehemia Levtzion Center for Islamic Studies was established at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2004.

Selected publications

* * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levtzion, Nehemia Academic staff of the Open University of Israel 20th-century Israeli historians 20th-century Israeli educators 1935 births 2003 deaths Academics from Jerusalem Deans (academic) Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Presidents of universities in Israel Moshavniks People from Southern District (Israel) Historians of Africa Historians of Islam Alumni of the University of London Israeli male writers Israeli expatriates in Ghana Israeli expatriates in the United Kingdom Burials at Har HaMenuchot

Early and personal life

Career

Selected publications

Further reading

References