Arthur Biram

{{Short description|German–Israeli philosopher, philologist, and educator (1878–1967)}}

{{Infobox academic

| name = Arthur Yitzhak Biram

| native_name = ארתור בירם

| native_name_lang = he

| image = Arthur Biram 1928.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption = Arthur Biram, 1928

| birth_date = August 13, 1878

| birth_place = Bischofswerda, Saxony, German Empire

| death_date = June 5, 1967

| death_place = Haifa, Israel

| nationality = Israeli

| alma_mater = University of Berlin, University of Leipzig

| awards = Israel Prize for education (1954)

| spouse = Hannah Tomeshevsky

| children = 2 sons

| notable_works = Founder of the Reali School in Haifa

}}

Arthur Yitzhak Biram (Hebrew: ארתור בירם; August 13, 1878 – June 5, 1967) was a German-born Israeli philosopher, philologist, and educator. He was the founder of the Reali School in Haifa.{{Cite news |title=The Hunters of Lost Books: New Project Finds and Digitizes Books Looted in WWII |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2024-01-11/ty-article-magazine/.premium/the-hunters-of-lost-books-new-project-finds-and-digitizes-books-looted-in-wwii/0000018c-f81b-d432-a7ae-fffbb9fd0000 |access-date=2024-02-08 |work=Haaretz |language=en}}

Biography

Arthur Biram was born in Bischofswerda in Saxony and attended school in Hirschberg, Silesia. He studied languages, including Arabic, at University of Berlin and at University of Leipzig and earned a doctorate (Dr. phil.) at the University of Leipzig in 1902, on the philosophy of Abu-Rasid al-Nisaburi.[https://openlibrary.org/books/OL24602189M/Kitābu'l-masā'il_fi'l-hilāf_bejn_al-Baṣryjīn_wa'l-Bagdadyjīn Die atomistische Substanzenlehre aus dem Buch der Streitfragen zwischen Basrensern und Bagdadensern, Arthur Biram, dissertation] In 1904 he graduated from the rabbinical program at Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, and began to teach language and literature at the Berlinisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster.

Biram was one of the founders of the Bar-Kochba club and a member of the German liberal religious stream 'Ezra', which recognized the importance of high school education. In 1913, he settled in Ottoman Palestine.

Biram married Hannah Tomeshevsky, with whom he had two sons. His son Aharon died in an accident while on reserve duty, and Binyamin, an engineer at the Dead Sea Works, was killed by a land mine.

Pedagogic career

File:ארתורבירם.JPG

Biram founded the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa in 1913 and was appointed its first principal.[http://www.reali.org.il/english/ The Hebrew Reali School in Haifa] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308171545/http://www.reali.org.il/english/ |date=March 8, 2014 }} When World War I broke out, Biram was drafted by the German army and stationed in Afula. In 1919, he returned to school.

As part of Biram's philosophy of education, in 1937 he implemented compulsory Hagam[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/haganah Haganah, written by Dganit Boni-Davidi] (acronym for Expanded Physical Education) training for girls in the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa, laying the foundation for recruitment of women in the Haganah, and later the Israel Defense 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 in 1967.

Awards and recognition

In 1954, he was awarded the Israel Prize for education.{{cite web|url=http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashyag/Tashkab_Tashyag_Rikuz.htm?DictionaryKey=Tashyad |title=Israel Prize recipients in 1954 (in Hebrew) |publisher=Israel Prize Official Site |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307203211/http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashyag/Tashkab_Tashyag_Rikuz.htm?DictionaryKey=Tashyad |archivedate=March 7, 2012 |url-status=dead }}

Arthur Biram

Biography

Pedagogic career

Awards and recognition

See also

References

Further reading