Michael Shafir (; 4 January 1944 – 9 November 2022) was a Romanian–Israeli political scientist. He has been described as "one of the leading analysts of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and the treatment of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

in east-central Europe". Shafir was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He immigrated to Israel during the Communist period in Eastern Europe, later returning to Romania in 2005. From then until his retirement he taught at the Faculty of European Studies of

Babeș-Bolyai University The Babeș-Bolyai University ( , , commonly known as UBB) is a public research university located in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Established in 1581 as Academia Claudiopolitana, it underwent several reorganizations over the centuries, eventually taking ...

, in

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

; in 2012 he donated his collection to the , despite the library being named for Goga, a radical antisemite. Shafir died on 9 November 2022, at the age of 78.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shafir, Michael 1944 births 2022 deaths Romanian Jews Romanian emigrants to Israel Scholars of antisemitism Romanian political scientists Israeli political scientists Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Historians of the Holocaust Historians from Bucharest Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people Academic staff of Babeș-Bolyai University