Chimen Abramsky ( he, שמעון אברמסקי; 12 September 1916 – 14 March 2010) was emeritus professor of Jewish studies at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = � ...
. His first name is pronounced ''Shimon''.
Biography
Abramsky was born in
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...
to a
Lithuanian Jewish
Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent areas ...
family on 12 September 1916, the son of
Rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
Yehezkel Abramsky.
He gained a BA degree from the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MA from the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...
. He was Reader in
Jewish History
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...
, then Goldsmid Professor of
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 ...
and
Jewish Studies
Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; he, מדעי היהדות, madey ha-yahadut, sciences of Judaism) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history ( ...
at University College London. He was a Senior Fellow at
St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics ...
. A noted scholar of Jewish History, Abramsky was also well known as an expert of antiquarian Hebrew books and manuscripts, and was professionally consulted for many years by the auction house
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
, which traditionally ran one Hebraica and
Judaica auction every year.
In 1936, while studying at the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem, he became involved in socialist campus politics and on one occasion, he recalled being beaten up by the future Israeli prime minister,
Yitzhak Shamir
Yitzhak Shamir ( he, יצחק שמיר, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms, 1983–1984 and 1986–1992. Before the establishment ...
– then a leading figure in the rightwing
Irgun.
He was described as an atheist.
Abramsky would visit
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in the Summer of 1939 to see his parents, he would be unable to return to the
Palestinian Mandate
The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine and Emirate of Transjordan, Transjordan, both of which had been conceded by the Ottoman Empire following ...
throughout
World War 2 because of this; during this time he would meet and marry Miriam (1917–1997). He would meet her at her parents' store Shapiro Vallentine, a prominent publisher of Jewish scholarly books.
They had two children, Jack and
Jenny, the latter of whom became a senior employee for the
BBC.
Jack, a mathematician, is the father of
Sasha Abramsky. The house Chimen and Miriam shared in
Highgate
Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross.
Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organis ...
,
Northern London, was considered an important destination for thinkers and scholars.
In 1966, he was invited to take up a newly created lectureship in modern Jewish history at University College London.
In a well-known incident, Abramsky once hosted the Japanese
crown prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife ...
and Hebrew scholar
Prince Takahito Mikasa at the University College London's Institute of Jewish Studies in 1975.
Abramsky died on 14 March 2010.
Works
*
Sasha Abramsky: ''The house of twenty thousand books''. London : Halban, 2014
See also
*
List of British Jews
References
External links
* ''The
Jewish Year Book'', 2005, p. 217
*
*
* Davidzon, Vladislav (February 18, 2015
'Chimen Abramsky’s House of Twenty Thousand Books' Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 15 December 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abramsky, Chimen
1916 births
2010 deaths
Place of death missing
20th-century atheists
Academics of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies
Academics of University College London
Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford
Belarusian emigrants to the United Kingdom
20th-century Belarusian Jews
British bibliophiles
British people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford
Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni
Judaic scholars
People from Minsky Uyezd
Professorships in literature
Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine