Editing Jacob Talmon

{{Short description|Polish-born Israeli historian (1916-1980)}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Jacob Leib Talmon
| native_name   = יעקב טלמון
| native_name_lang = he
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1916|06|14|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Rypin]], [[Poland]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1980|06|16|1916|06|14|df=y}}
| death_place   = {{flag|Israel}}
| nationality   = {{flag|Israel}}
| occupation    = Historian
| awards        = 
{{plainlist|
* [[Israel Prize]] (1957)
}}
}}
{{Conservatism in Israel|Intellectuals}}
'''Jacob Leib Talmon''' ({{langx|he|יעקב טלמון}}; June 14, 1916 &ndash; June 16, 1980) was Professor of Modern History at the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]].

He studied the [[genealogy]] of [[totalitarianism]], arguing that political [[Messianism]] stemmed from the [[French Revolution]], and stressed the similarities between [[Jacobinism]] and [[Stalinism]]. He coined the terms "[[totalitarian democracy]]" and "[[Messianic democracy]]/[[political Messianism]]".

==Biography==
Talmon was born in [[Rypin]], a town in central Poland, into an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] family. He left in 1934 to study at the Hebrew University in [[Jerusalem]], then in the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]], now [[Israel]]. He continued his studies in France but left for London after the Nazi invasion; in 1943 he was awarded a [[PhD]] from the [[London School of Economics]]. His main works are ''The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy'' and ''Political Messianism: The Romantic Phase''. Talmon argued that [[Rousseau]]'s position may best be understood as "totalitarian democracy", a philosophy in which liberty is realized "only in the pursuit and attainment of an absolute collective purpose." Following the [[1967 Six-Day War]], Talmon engaged in a debate with [[Arnold J. Toynbee]] on the role of Jews and Zionism in history.<ref>Hedva Ben-Israel, "Debates With Toynbee: Herzog, Talmon, Friedman," ''[[Israel Studies]]'' (Spring 2006), pp. 83ff; and two newspaper reports in Hebrew: Jacob Talmon, "Arnold Toynbee and His Relationship to the Jews," ''[[Haaretz]]'', Sept. 5, 1956 and "The Exchange of Letters Between Professor Arnold Toynbee and Professor Y. Talmon following the Six-Day War," ''[[Maariv]]'', Aug. 4, 1967.</ref>

Talmon died in [[Jerusalem]] on June 16, 1980, two days after his 64th birthday.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/18/archives/jl-talmon-is-dead-an-israeli-historian-hebrew-university-professor.html|title=J.L. Talmon is dead; an Israeli historian; Hebrew University Professor Was Author of Books on Evolution of Totalitarian Systems Threat of 'Racial War' Seen |first=David K. |last=Shipler |newspaper=New York Times|date=June 18, 1980 |page=38 }}</ref>

==Awards==
In 1957, Talmon was awarded the [[Israel Prize]] for [[social sciences]].<ref name=prize>{{Cite web| title = Israel Prize Official Site - Recipients in 1956 (in Hebrew)| url = http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashyag/Tashkab_Tashyag_Rikuz.htm?DictionaryKey=Tashtaz}}</ref>

==Major works==
* {{cite book |url=  https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.460216/page/n7/mode/2up  |title= The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy |place=  London |publisher= Secker & Warburg | volume= 1 |year= 1952}}; vol. 2: 1960
* ''The Nature of Jewish History-Its Universal Significance'', 1957
* [https://archive.org/details/politicalmessian0000talm ''Political Messianism – The Romantic Phase'', 1960]
* ''The Unique and The Universal'', 1965
* [https://archive.org/details/romanticismrevol00talmrich ''Romanticism and Revolt'', 1967]
* ''Israel among the Nations'', 1968
* ''The Age of Violence'', 1974
* [https://archive.org/details/mythofnationvisi0000talm/ ''The Myth of Nation and Vision of Revolution – The Origins of Ideological Polarization in the 20th Century'', 1981]<ref>The work was unpublished at the time of his death; ''The New York Times'', June 18, 1980, p. 38.</ref>
* ''The Riddle of the Present and the Cunning of History'', 2000 (Hebrew, p.m.)

==See also==
*[[Totalitarian democracy]]
*[[List of Israel Prize recipients]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
*[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/9681 Two Statements on the Mid-East War], 1973
* Arie Dubnov, '[https://web.archive.org/web/20110721134508/http://mosse.huji.ac.il/files/Dubnov_A_tale_of_trees_and_crooked_timbers.pdf A tale of trees and crooked timbers: Jacob Talmon and Isaiah Berlin on the question of Jewish Nationalism]', History of European Ideas, Vol. 34, No. 2
* Arie Dubnov, '[https://web.archive.org/web/20110721134526/http://mosse.huji.ac.il/files/Arie_Dubnov_INTRO-Priest_or_Jester.pdf Priest or Jester? Jacob L. Talmon (1916-1980) on History and Intellectual engagement (Introduction essay)]', History of European Ideas, Vol. 34, No. 2
*{{Internet Archive author |sname= Jacob Talmon}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talmon, Jacob}}
[[Category:1916 births|Talmon, J. L.]]
[[Category:1980 deaths|Talmon, J. L.]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics|Talmon, J. L.]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem|Talmon, J. L.]]
[[Category:Critics of atheism]]
[[Category:Critics of Marxism]]
[[Category:Historians of the French Revolution]]
[[Category:Historians of Russia]]
[[Category:Israeli anti-communists]]
[[Category:Israel Prize in social sciences recipients|Talmon, J. L.]]
[[Category:Israeli Ashkenazi Jews]]
[[Category:Israeli Orthodox Jews]]
[[Category:Israeli political scientists|Talmon, J. L.]]
[[Category:Jewish anti-communists]]
[[Category:Jewish economists]]
[[Category:Jewish historians|Talmon, J. L.]]
[[Category:Jewish Polish writers|Talmon, J. L.]]
[[Category:Orthodox Jews in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities]]
[[Category:Writers on Zionism]]
[[Category:People from Rypin]]
[[Category:Polish emigrants to Israel]]
[[Category:Polish Orthodox Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century Israeli historians]]
[[Category:20th-century political scientists]]
[[Category:Burials at Har HaMenuchot]]
[[Category:Anti-Masonry]]