Scienceאלכסנדר יעקובסון

Alexander Yakobson

Alexander Yakobson is an Israeli historian of the ancient world at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a political commentator.

born 1959Research on Roman Republic electionsOpinion columns in HaaretzBook on Jewish nation state

Born: 5 October 1959, Moscow
Occupation: historian, opinion journalist
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of Cologne

Alexander Yakobson was born in 1959 in Moscow

Alexander Yakobson was born on October 5, 1959, in Moscow. His parents were the Soviet dissidents Anatoly Yakobson and Maya Ulanovskaya. He moved to Israel with his family at age 13.

He studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, earning a BA in 1985, an MA in 1989 and a doctorate in ancient history in 1995. His doctorate dealt with elections in the late Roman Republic. He then did postdoctoral research at the University of Cologne.

He taught at the University of Haifa from 1995 to 1997 and later joined the Hebrew University, becoming associate professor of ancient history in 2011. His research covers democracy, public opinion and elections in the ancient world, the early Roman Empire, and modern nationalism. His first book, on elections in Rome, came out in 1999.

He joined Shinui in 1982 and later Meretz, where he served on its leadership until 2000, when he left after the Second Intifada began. He was an aide and political adviser to Amnon Rubinstein, with whom he co-wrote a book on Israel as a Jewish nation state. He has written columns for Vesti, Maariv and, since 2004, Haaretz.