Raphael Mahler
Raphael Mahler (August 15, 1899 – October 4, 1977) was a Galician-born Jewish historian who worked in Poland, America, and Israel.
Life
Mahler was born on August 15, 1899, in Nowy Sącz, Galicia, Austria-Hungary, the son of a scholarly and business family. He attended the Nowy Sącz municipal public school, where he was the only Jewish student, went to the Nowy Sącz yeshiva, and studied with private tutors.[1]
Mahler left the yeshiva when he was fifteen and finished his secondary education in
From 1924 to 1937, Mahler taught general and Jewish history in the Gymnasium and the Lyceum "Ascola" in Warsaw. He was active in the Warsaw branch of the Polish Historical Society. He identified with the Jewish workers' movement since his youth. He contributed to and edited Der Yunger Historikes from 1926 to 1929, Bleter far Geshicte from 1934 to 1939, the YIVO yearbooks, Der Virtshaftliche Lebn, and Fraie Yungt. He also headed the Jewish Workers Educational Society in Poland (Geselshaft Ovent Kursn far Arbeter) until 1931, when the Polish government dissolved it.[3]
In 1937, Mahler immigrated to America at the invitation of YIVO and settled in
In 1950, Mahler immigrated to Israel and lectured on Jewish economic history at the Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics. In 1959, he joined the Tel Aviv University faculty. An active member of Mapam, he was a doctrinaire Marxist scholar who believed economics and social conflicts were essential for understanding Jewish history. He wrote on Jewish history in Yiddish, Polish, German, Hebrew, and Yiddish. A bibliography of his work that was compiled in 1974 revealed over 500 publications. In 1977, he was awarded the Israel Prize for his contributions to Jewish scholarship.[2]
Mahler wrote, among other works, Di Yidn in Amolikn Poyln in the publication Di Yidn by Poyln in 1946, Ha-Kara'im on the Karaites in 1946, Yidn in Amolikn Poyln in Likht fun Tsifern in 1958, Yehudei Polin bein Shetei ha-Milḥamot (Jews in Poland Between the Two World Wars) in 1968, and the article Torat Borochov ve-Shitato be-Yameinu Anu in Ba-Derekh in 1965. His major work Divrei Yemei Yisrael; Dorot Aḥaronim (History of the Jewish People in Modern Times) was only partially published.[4]
Mahler died in Ramat Gan on October 4, 1977.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Fogel, Joshua (2017-07-06). "RIFOEL MAHLER (RAPHAEL MAHLER)". Yiddish Leksikon. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
- ^ a b Shapiro, Robert Moses. "Mahler, Raphael". The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
- ^ a b Landman, Isaac, ed. (1942). The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York, N.Y.: The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc. p. 284 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Mahler, Raphael". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
