Scienceחיים ביינארט

Haim Beinart

Haim Beinart was an Israeli historian of the Jews of medieval Spain and a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

1917 to 2010History of the Jews in SpainResearch on the Spanish InquisitionFounding the Hispania Judaica seriesThe 1991 Israel Prize

Died: 16 February 2010, Jerusalem
Occupation: historian, university teacher
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Haim Beinart was born in 1917 in Pskov

Haim Beinart was born in 1917 in Pskov, Russia. His parents were Hasidic Jews, and in 1923 the family settled in Riga. He finished the Hebrew gymnasium there in 1934 and then served in the Latvian Army until 1937.

In 1937 he moved to the Land of Israel and began studying at the Hebrew University. He joined the Irgun and headed its intelligence service in Jerusalem, leaving at the end of 1943. In January 1945 he was kidnapped and questioned about the Irgun, and was released 3 weeks later.

He earned his PhD at the Hebrew University in 1955 with a study of Inquisition trials in Toledo. He taught there from 1958 and became a full professor in 1971. From 1969 to 1973 he was dean of humanities and social sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, which he helped found.

His research covered the Jews of Spain up to the 1492 expulsion, the Spanish Inquisition and the conversos. He edited the Biblical Encyclopedia and founded the book series Hispania Judaica. He received the Israel Prize in 1991.

He retired from the Hebrew University in 1988. He and his wife Ruth had 4 children. He died in Jerusalem on February 16, 2010.