Michael Harsgor (15 March 192410 February 2011) was an Israeli

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

at the

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 ...

. Harsgor's expertise was in the history of Europe in the

late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

Biography

Harsgor was born Michael Goldberg in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

into a Jewish family who were refugees from the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

in Russia who settled in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Early on, Harsgor's parents had the desire to give him a Western education and therefore his family moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The economic crisis of 1929 damaged his father's business and therefore in 1933 his family returned to Romania. Harsgor's family intended to immigrate to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

, but this proved impossible during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His entire family perished in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. Because he was a member of the Socialist–Zionist youth movement

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair ( he, הַשׁוֹמֵר הַצָעִיר, , ''The Young Guard'') is a Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, and it was also the name of the group ...

the Romanian fascist authorities sentenced him to 20 years of imprisonment with hard labor. Harsgor ended up working in the printing press of the prison. In 1944 he was released from prison, and continued to be active in the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement. In 1946, after being active in gathering Jewish teenagers in Romania and facilitating their immigration to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, he himself immigrated to Palestine. The British authorities in Palestine limited the Jewish immigration quota at that time and all the passengers on the ship taking him to Palestine were seized imprisoned in camps in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. They were released in early 1949 after the establishment of the State of Israel. In Cyprus Harsgor changed his name from Goldberg to Harsgor. Harsgor was among the founding members of Kibbutz

Zikim Zikim ( he, זִיקִים) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northern Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The kibbutz was established in 1949 on lan ...

and was the person who gave the kibbutz its name. Harsgor was a member of the Israeli Communist Party Maki and worked as a reporter for the Communist Party newspaper

Kol HaAm ''Kol HaAm'' ( he, קול העם, lit. "Voice of the People") was a Hebrew-language newspaper in Mandatory Palestine and Israel. It was initially published by the Palestine Communist Party and later by its successor, the Israeli Communist Party. H ...

. At that time he met his wife Tamar, and his daughter Niva was born. Harsgor began his academic studies at the

. He excelled in his Bachelor's degree and therefore the Tel Aviv University sent him to France to continue his studies. Harsgor studied in France for six years. For his academic achievement Harsgor was awarded the degree of

Docteur d'État Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

, a degree which is usually not awarded to foreigners. Between 1962 and 1966 Harsgor taught history in the Municipal High School Ironi D in Tel Aviv. In 1974, Harsgor was in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

during the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

, and as a result, the history of Portugal became one of his major topics of interest. For more than twenty years, Harsgor hosted the regularly weekly seven o'clock evening program "Sha'a Historit" (History Hour) on the Galatz radio station, together with the Israeli radio broadcaster Alex Ansky. His grandson is former deputy mayor of Kfar Saba, Ilai Harsgor Hendin. Harsgor died on 10 February 2011 at the age of 86 in the city of

Kfar Saba Kfar Saba ( he, כְּפַר סָבָא), officially Kefar Sava, is a city in the Sharon region, of the Central District of Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 110,456, making it the 16th-largest city in Israel. The population of Kfar Saba i ...

due to

kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Inflammation can ...

References

External links

Michael Harsgor books on Amazon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harsegor, Michael 1924 births 2011 deaths Israeli historians Israeli medievalists Israeli radio presenters Hashomer Hatzair members Tel Aviv University alumni Academic staff of Tel Aviv University Romanian Jews Israeli Jews Romanian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Romanian emigrants to France