Jonathan Frankel

Jonathan Frankel (July 15, 1935 in London – May 7, 2008 in Jerusalem) 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.

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” (Steven Zipperstein, The Independent); “arguably the greatest historian of modern Jewry of his generation” (The Times); “a brilliant historian of Russian and Jewish history” (David Cesarani, The Guardian,). 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 (1982), 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 (the last one published just a few months before his death) can be seen as unquestionable mark of the highest recognition.

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

• Vladimir Akimov on the Dilemmas of Russian Marxism 1895-1903: The Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Cambridge University Press, 1969.
• Prophecy and Politics: socialism, nationalism and the Russian Jews, 1862-1917. Cambridge University Press, 1984. — 686 pages (translated into Hebrew, Italian and Russian).
• The Damascus Affair: 'Ritual Murder', Politics, and the Jews in 1840. Cambridge University Press, 1997. — 491 pages. — ISBN 0-521-48396-4
  (Review / Middle East Quarterly, Volume 13 / September 1, 1998) (translated into Hebrew).
• Social Radicalism: “Jewish Socialism” and Jewish Labour Movement in Eastern Europe, Open University of Israel, 2007 (in Hebrew).
• Crisis, Revolution, and Russian Jews. Cambridge University Press, 2009.

• Steven J. Zipperstein, "Remembering Our Colleagues: Jonathan Frankel (1935 - 2008)," Association for Jewish Studies, January 2008.
• Vladimir Levin, Professor Jonathan Frankel (1935-2008), Journal East European Jewish Affairs, Volume 38, Issue 3, December 2008, pp. 251 - 252.
• Semion Gol’din and Vladimir Levin, "In memoriam of Jonathan Frankel," in: Arkhiv evreiskoi istorii, Vol. 5 (2008), pp. 347–351 (in Russian).
• Eli Lederhendler, "In Memoriam: Jonathan Frankel, 1935–2008," American Jewish History, July 2009, 94 (3), pp. 225-227.
• Jonathan Frankel - Thought-provoking contributor to Jewish and Russian history
• Professor Jonathan Frankel: Historian of Russia and modern Jewry