23.05.2019
Enrico Lucca (Leibniz-Institut für jüdische Geschichte und Kultur – Simon Dubnow)
National and transnational Judaism.
A biographical perspective through the life of Hugo Bergmann (1883-1975)
Born in Prague at the end of nineteenth century—he was Franz Kafka’s classmate and early best friend—and immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1920, Hugo Bergmann’s life represents to many extents an excellent point of observation for exploring the structure of transnational transfer of knowledge and culture between Central Europe and Palestine. This proves to be particularly useful as refers for example to the role of the tradition of German universities and libraries in the establishment of new institutions in Mandatory Palestine, to the reception and translation of German and European philosophy in Israeli academia, and no less important to the history of the development of political ideas and concepts, mainly within the Zionist bi-national left. In my talk I wish to introduce Bergman’s figure bringing examples both from the academic/institutional as well as from the political side.