Zvi Yavetz

Zvi Yavetz (26 April 1925 – 7 January 2013) was an Israeli historian. He was a professor of ancient history at Tel Aviv University.

Zvi Yavetz
Born26 April 1925
Died7 January 2013 (aged 87)
CitizenshipIsrael
Alma materHebrew University
Known forAncient history research
Scientific career
InstitutionsTel Aviv University

Biography

Zvi Zucker (later Yavetz) was born in Czernowitz, Ukraine.[1] When he was five years old, he was diagnosed with polio and his father committed suicide.[1] After the German occupation in 1941, he was sent to a concentration camp. His relatives, including his mother, were murdered, but he survived the Holocaust and escaped in 1944.[2] Arriving in Turkey, he was transferred to Cyprus and eventually reached Mandatory Palestine.[2]

Initially, Yavetz joined a kibbutz in the Jordan valley.[3] Then he left to study modern history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[3] While at university, Yavetz worked as a teacher for deaf and speech impaired children.[3] He received a master's degree and PhD in history, classics and sociology in 1950 and 1956, respectively.[4] In 1960, he carried out post-doctoral research at University of London and Lund University.[4]

Yavetz died in January 2013 and was buried at Kibbutz Tel Yitzhak cemetery.[5]

Academic and literary career

After completing his PhD., Yavetz helped to found Tel Aviv University.[5] In 1956, he was named the department chair of general history and later, dean of humanities faculty at the university.[5]

In 2008, Yavetz published his autobiography, My Czernowitz.[1] He adopted his mother's family name, Yavetz, when he learned that all members of her family had been killed in the Holocaust.[3]

Awards and recognition

In 1990, Yavetz was awarded the Israel Prize for humanities.[5] In 1997, he was awarded a doctorate (Honoris Causa) from Beer Sheba University and Munich University.[4]

References

  1. Aharon Appelfeld (5 March 2008). "A city that was and is no longer". Haaretz. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  2. Ofer Aderet (8 January 2013). "Distinguished Israeli historian Zvi Yavetz dies at 87". Haaretz. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  3. Irad Malkin (1995). Leaders and Masses in the Roman World: Studies in Honor of Zvi Yavetz. BRILL. p. 5. ISBN 978-90-04-09917-3.
  4. "Zwi Yavets". ISRO. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  5. Neri Brenner (8 January 2013). "Israel Prize laureate Prof. Zvi Yavetz dies". Ynet News. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
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