Grossman, Avraham
GROSSMAN, AVRAHAM
GROSSMAN, AVRAHAM (1936– ), Israeli historian. Grossman focuses on the cultural, intellectual, and social world of the Ashkenazi and French rabbinical sages in the early Middle Ages. He was born in the moshavah of Mishmar ha-Yarden. In 1966 he graduated in Jewish history and Talmud from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, receiving his M.A. in 1967 and his Ph.D. in 1974; he did postdoctoral work in London and Oxford in 1975. From 1969 to 1972 he taught Jewish history at the University of the Negev (now Ben-Gurion University) and in 1973–74 taught at the Hebrew University. In 1976 he became a lecturer there and in 1986 a professor. From 1991 to 1992 he was the head of the Department of Jewish History. Grossman was visiting professor at Harvard, Yale, and Ohio Universities. He was a member of numerous academic committees and editorial boards. He published more than 100 articles and books, among them, The First Ashkenazi Wise Men (1981); The Jewish Community during the Middle Ages (1988); The First French Wise Men (1995) and Pious and Rebellious –Jewish Women in Medieval Europe (2001). He received various awards for his work, including the Bialik Award. In 2003 he was awarded the Israel Prize for Jewish history.
[Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)]