Ilan Amit
{{short description|Israeli mathematician}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Ilan Amit
| native_name = אילן עמית
| native_name_lang = he
| image = Ilan Amit.jpg
| image_size =
| image_upright =
| caption = Ilan Amit in 2009
| birth_name = Ilan Kroch
| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|01|19}}
| birth_place = Haifa, Mandatory Palestine
| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|03|11|1935|01|19}}
| death_place = Tel Aviv, Israel
| resting_place = Kiryat Shaul Cemetery
| nationality = Israeli
| fields =
| workplaces =
| education =
| alma_mater = Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
| awards =
| doctoral_advisor = Elisha Netanyahu
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for =
}}
Ilan Amit ({{Langx|he|אִילָן עָמִית}}; {{birth date|1935|01|19}} – {{death date|2013|03|11}}) was an Israeli mathematician, spiritual philosopher, and defence consultant. He worked as a strategist and senior advisor to Israel's defence establishment, including the Mossad.
Biography
Ilan Kroch (later Amit) was born in Haifa. His father, a mathematics teacher, was deputy principal of the Hebrew Reali School and a founder of the Hebrew Scouts Movement in Israel.{{cite news|url=http://jpress.org.il/olive/apa/nli_heb/?href=MAR%2F1986%2F05%2F02&page=123|language=he|title=לא מגשש באפֵלה: מבט אחר|newspaper=Maariv|first=Michal|last=Kapra|date=2 May 1986|pages=18–20}} Amit studied at the Reali School, where he was a student of Josef Schächter. In 1960, Amit was one of the founders of the moshav shitufi Yodfat, where he became a proponent of the teachings of mystic George Gurdjieff.{{cite book|title=Everyday Mysticism: A Contemplative Community at Work in the Desert|first=Ariel|last=Glucklich|publisher=Yale University Press|date=2017|location=New Haven|lccn=2017934982|page=68|isbn=9780300231373|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGo3DwAAQBAJ}}{{cite book|title=Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production|first=Joseph|last=Azize|page=326|editor1-first=Carole M.|editor1-last=Cusack|editor2-first=Alex|editor2-last=Norman|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|date=2012|isbn=978-90-04-22187-1|chapter=Gurdjieff's Sacred Dances and Movements|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5QEyAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA326}}
After completing his undergraduate studies in mathematics at the Technion, Amit worked at Mekorot, soon becoming head of the company's operations research department.{{cite book|title=Public Administration in Israel and Abroad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u38uAAAAIAAJ|year=1966|publisher=Israel Institute of Public Administration|page=53|location=Jerusalem}} He completed his Ph.D. in mathematics from the Technion in 1967, under the supervision of Elisha Netanyahu.
Amit joined the military research department at Rafael in the late 1970s, not long after which he became blind as the result of illness. In the late 1980s Amit joined a team in Mossad's intelligence division that aimed to engage in intelligence estimates and formulate recommendations in the area of policy and strategy.{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-a-blind-man-with-great-vision-1.5235264|title=A Blind Man With Great Vision|first=Ofer|last=Aderet|date=22 March 2013|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=18 February 2019}}
In 2009, he became a member of the Prime Minister's National Security Council. He died at the age of 78 following a stroke, survived by his wife and four children.{{cite news|url=https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4358674,00.html|language=he|date=4 April 2013|title=מהי האמת הפנימית?|work=Ynet|access-date=3 March 2019}}
Awards and commemoration
Presence: Ilan Amit's Journey, a film about Amit's life, was released in 2018.{{cite AV media |people=Inov, Ofer (Director)|date=2018|title=להיות נוכח. המסע של אילן עמית|trans-title=Presence: Ilan Amit's Journey|medium=Film|language=he|url=https://www.cinema.co.il/event/%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%9E%D7%94-%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%94-%D7%9C%D7%94%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%9B%D7%97/|access-date= |archive-url= |archive-date= |format= |time= |location=Israel|publisher= |id= |isbn= |oclc= |quote= }}{{cite web|url=https://www.secrettelaviv.com/tickets/gurdjieff-ilan-amit-and-the-inner-work|title=Gurdjieff, Ilan Amit and the Inner Work|date=27 October 2018|website=Secret Tel Aviv|access-date=25 February 2019}}
Published works
Amit has translated Kierkegaard into Hebrew and published essays on Emily Dickinson and on therapy of the absurd, along with many classified research papers.{{cite book |editor-last1=Hasan-Rokem |editor-first1=Galit |editor-last2=Shulman |editor-first2=David Dean |last3=Shulman |title=Untying the Knot: On Riddles and Other Enigmatic Modes |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-510186-7 |page=ix| oclc=252560465|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T4jmCwAAQBAJ}} His published books include:
- {{cite book|first=Ilan|last=Amit|title=חידת הנוכחות|language=he|publisher=Sifrey Aliyat HaGag|date=2013|trans-title=The Mystery of Presence|location=Tel Aviv|isbn=978-965-545-667-7}}
- {{cite book|isbn=978-90-72395-64-1|title=The Lamp: A (Not Quite) Spiritual Biography|publisher=Eureka Editions|first=Ilan|last=Amit|date=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tI07YgEACAAJ}}
- {{cite book|title=גורדייף והעבודה הפנימית|trans-title=Gurdjieff and the Inner Work|first=Ilan|last=Amit|publisher=Mapa Publishing|isbn=978-965-521-015-6|date=2005|language=he}}
External links
- {{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.co.il/.premium-1.2083973|title=מה כתב הפילוסוף של המוסד לפני מותו|trans-title=What the Mossad's Philosopher Wrote Before His Death|date=3 August 2013|newspaper=Haaretz|language=he|first=Sara|last=Sviri}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amit, Ilan}}
Category:20th-century Israeli philosophers
Category:Applied mathematicians
Category:Israeli mathematicians
Category:Israeli spiritual teachers
Category:Israeli spiritual writers
Category:Israeli political consultants
Category:Technion – Israel Institute of Technology alumni