Jonathan Frankel


Jonathan Frankel was a historian and writer. He was a lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1964 to 1985, and a professor between 1985 and 2004.

Influence

Jonathan Frankel was one of the most influential historians of Modern Jewry, as testified in many obituaries: “the most highly regarded historian of modern Jewry of his generation” ; “arguably the greatest historian of modern Jewry of his generation” ; “a brilliant historian of Russian and Jewish history”.
Jonathan Frankel’s most influential contribution to the historiography of East European Jewish life is his book Prophecy and Politics: Socialism, Nationalism, and the Russian Jews, 1862–1917, which became a classic at the moment of its publication. In this huge work Frankel approached Jewish history of the nineteenth and early twentieth century from completely a new perspective. He interconnected things which had hitherto been separate and examined them in all their complexity. He crossed the established geographical and chronological boundaries of research and produced a comprehensive image of Jewish socialism on three continents and in two generations. The translation of the book into Hebrew, Italian and Russian can be seen as unquestionable mark of the highest recognition.

Family

Frankel married Edith Rogovin in 1963; they have two daughters.

Books