Dinur, Benzion

Benzion Dinur (1884 Khorol – 1973 Jerusalem) was a famous historian, educator, Zionist activist, and Israeli Knesset member (on the Mapai party’s list, 1949-1951) who served as Minister for Education and Culture (1951-1955), and Israel Prize laurete (twice). Dinur largely contributed to the elaboration of an historical method around the "Palestinocentric" vision of the entire course of the Jewish history (“Jerusalem School”). He was a pupil of the Telsh and Slobodka yeshivot, and studied at the Universities of Berlin (1911-1913), Bern (1913-1915) and Petrograd (1915-1917). Benzion Dinur taught in several Jewish schools in the Russian Empire, was very active in the Society for the Promotion of Enlightenment among the Jews in Russia (OPE), and in the Zionist Socialist Workers Party in Russia. In 1921, with a group of Hebrew writers, Dinur received an exit permit from the Soviet authorities, and settled in Palestine. Soon thereafter he joined the Jewish Teachers' Training College in Jerusalem as a teacher and later became its headmaster (1943-1948). In 1936 he was appointed lecturer in modern Jewish history at the Hebrew University. Benzion Dinur was among the founders and editors of the bibliographical quarterly Kirjath Sepher, the historical annual (later quarterly) Zion and of other historiographical projects related to Jewish history, Zionism and the Yishuv. Dinur served as the chairman of the Jewish Historical General Archives (later the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People). He was one of the central figures in the Israel Historical Society, and from 1953 to 1959 served as president of Yad Vashem. Benzion Dinur’s private collection comprises of materials related to his life, scholarly and public work in different periods and places. The collection contains Dinur’s extensive correspondence, his diary, photos and various personal documents. An important part of the collection are records related to Dinur's scholarly and education activities. These include drafts of his articles, books and lectures, notebooks with lesson plans, bibliographies of what he composed, notes, work reports, reviews on various works and books, copies and translations of historical sources used by Dinur. The collection also contains internal documents of numerous institutions with which he worked - including summaries and minutes of meetings (Israeli Historical Society; The Jewish Historical General Archives - later CAHJP; Yad Vashem; Jewish Teachers' Training College in Jerusalem; the Hebrew University; Knesset Education Committee; The Government of Israel and more). The collection also includes many clippings from press and magazines with articles about Dinur, his articles, and on the subject of Zionism -- Read more