Arthur Biram
Encyclopedia
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i philosopher, philologist, and educator.
Biography
Arthur Biram was born in BischofswerdaBischofswerda
Bischofswerda is a small town in Germany at the western edge of Upper Lusatia in Saxony.-Geography:The town is located 33 km to the east of Dresden at the edge of the Upper Lusatian mountain country. The town is known as the "Gateway to Upper Lusatia" - "Tor zur Oberlausitz" in German. It is...
in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
in 1878, the son of a modest, but successful businessman. Biram attended school in Hirschberg
Jelenia Góra
----Jelenia Góra is a city in Lower Silesia, south-western Poland. The name of the city means "deer mountain" in Polish, Czech and German. It is close to the Krkonoše mountain range running along the Polish-Czech border – ski resorts such as Karpacz and Szklarska Poręba can be found...
, Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
. His sister Else Bodenheimer-Biram became a well known art sociologist.
He studied languages, including Arabic, at University of Berlin and at University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
and earned a doctorate Dr. phil. at the University of Leipzig in 1902, discussing the philosophy of Abu-Rasid al-Nisaburi. In 1904 he concluded the rabbi seminar at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums
Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums
The Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, or Higher Institute for Jewish Studies, was a rabbinical seminary, established in Berlin in 1872 destroyed by the Nazi government of Germany in 1942...
. Afterwards he taught languages and literature at the Berlinisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster
Berlinisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster
The Berlinisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster is the oldest Gymnasium in Berlin and continues to this day as the Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster. It is a private school with a humanistic profile and known as one of the most prestigious schools in Germany...
.
Biram was one of the founders of the Bar-Kochba club
Simon bar Kokhba
Simon bar Kokhba was the Jewish leader of what is known as the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE, establishing an independent Jewish state of Israel which he ruled for three years as Nasi...
, and a member of the German liberal religious stream 'Ezra', which recognized the importance of high school education. In 1913, he emigrated to Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
.
Dr. Arthur Biram founded the Hebrew Reali School
Hebrew Reali School
The Hebrew Reali School of Haifa , located in Haifa, Israel, is one of the country's oldest private schools.-History:...
in Haifa in 1913 and was appointed its first principal, but a few months later, World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out, and Dr. Biram was drafted by the German army and stationed in Afula
Afula
Afula is a city in the North District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley", referring to the Jezreel Valley. The city had a population of 40,500 at the end of 2009.-History:...
. In 1919, he returned to school.
He married Hannah Tomeshevsky, and they had two sons. Both sons were killed: Aharon died in an accident while on reserve duty, and Binyamin, an engineer at the Dead Sea Works
Dead Sea Works
The Dead Sea Works is an Israeli potash plant in Sdom, on the Dead Sea coast of Israel.-History:The company was established in 1930 by Moshe Novomeysky. It was known then as the Palestine Potash Company...
, was killed by a mine.
As part of Dr. Biram's philosophy of education, in 1937, he implemented compulsory Hagam training for girls in the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa, laying the foundation for recruitment of women in the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
, and later the Israel Defence Forces.
In 1948, he resigned his post as principal, and on his 75th birthday, he authored a collection of essays on the Bible. Altogether, he wrote about 50 publications in Hebrew, German, English, and Arabic. Biram died in Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
in 1967.
External links
- Streetwise: Rehov Biram, Haifa, written by Wendy Blumfeld
- Videos at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
: part 1, part 2 - Publications about resp. by Arthur Biram at WorldcatWorldCatWorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
- Biography at the Upper Lusatian Science Society (in German)
Further reading
- Socio-Educational Dilemmas: a typology illustrated by the history of Hebrew education in Haifa during the British Mandate, by Yuval Dror, article in the Journal of Educational Administration and History, 1478-7431, Volume 26, Issue 1, 1994, Pages 35 – 54, DOI: 10.1080/0022062940260104
- Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel, by Raphael Patai, Vol. 1, Herzl Press, 1971
See also
- List of Israel Prize recipients