Jacob Leib Talmon (born 14 June 1916, died 16 June 1980) was Professor of Modern History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...

. He has been categorised as a 'Cold War liberal

Cold War liberal

Cold-War liberal was a term used most commonly in the United States during the Second Cold War, which began at the end of World War II. The term was used describe liberal politicians and labor union leaders who supported democracy and equality: They supported the growth of labor unions, the civil...

' because of the anti-Marxism which permeates his main works.

He studied the genealogy

Genealogy

Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...

 of totalitarianism

Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...

, arguing that political Messianism

Messianism

Messianism is the belief in a messiah, a savior or redeemer. Many religions have a messiah concept, including the Jewish Messiah, the Christian Christ, the Muslim Mahdi and Isa , the Buddhist Maitreya, the Hindu Kalki and the Zoroastrian Saoshyant...

 stemmed from the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, and stressed the similarities between Jacobinism and Stalinism

Stalinism

Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...

. He coined the terms Totalitarian Democracy

Totalitarian democracy

Totalitarian democracy is a term made famous by Israeli historian J. L. Talmon to refer to a system of government in which lawfully elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation state whose citizens, while granted the right to vote, have little or no participation in the...

and Political Messianism.

Biography

Talmon was born in Rypin

Rypin

Rypin is a town in Poland, in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, about 50 km east of Toruń. It is the capital of Rypin County. Population is 16,558 .-External links:**...

, town in central Poland, into an orthodox Jewish family. He left in 1934 to study at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, then in the British Mandate of Palestine, now Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. He continued his studies in France but left for London after the Nazi invasion; in 1943 he was awarded a PhD

PHD

PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 from the London School of Economics

London School of Economics

The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...

. His main works are The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy and Political Messianism: The Romantic Phase. Talmon argued that Rousseau's position may best be understood as "totalitarian democracy

Totalitarian democracy

Totalitarian democracy is a term made famous by Israeli historian J. L. Talmon to refer to a system of government in which lawfully elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation state whose citizens, while granted the right to vote, have little or no participation in the...

"; that is, as a philosophy in which liberty is realized "only in the pursuit and attainment of an absolute collective purpose."

Major works

• The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy, 1952
• The Nature of Jewish History-Its Universal Significance, 1957
• Political Messianism - The Romantic Phase, 1960
• The Unique and The Universal, 1965
• Romanticism and Revolt, 1967
• Israel among the Nations, 1968
• The Age of Violence, 1974
• The Myth of Nation and Vision of Revolution, The Origins of Ideological Polarization in the 20th Century, 1981
• The Riddle of the Present and the Cunning of History 2000 (Hebrew, p.m.)

External links

• Two Statements on the Mid-East War, 1973
• Arie Dubnov, 'A tale of trees and crooked timbers: Jacob Talmon and Isaiah Berlin on the question of Jewish Nationalism', History of European Ideas, Vol. 34, No. 2
• Arie Dubnov, 'Priest or Jester? Jacob L. Talmon (1916-1980) on History and Intellectual engagement (Introduction essay)', History of European Ideas, Vol. 34, No. 2