Prof. Shmuel Noah Eisenstedt, the father of sociology in Israel, today wins the prestigious Norwegian award "Holberg Award"
Prof. SN Eisenstedt is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a member of the Israel National Academy of Sciences since 1965 and a research fellow at the Van Leer Institute.
The award is given to him for being an exceptional researcher and scholar with great influence in various disciplines including: sociology, political science, religious studies and anthropology. In the judges' reasoning for awarding the prize, it was stated that Prof. Eisenstadt developed comparative knowledge of rare quality, which is centered on social change and modernization and is related to the relationship between culture, belief systems and political institutions. His work combines sociological theory with empirical and historical research in the study of societies, civilization and modernization patterns.
Prof. Eisenstedt was born in 1923 in Warsaw and since 1946 has been a faculty member at the Hebrew University. He was a visiting professor at, among others, universities: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Washington, Oslo, Vienna and Hong Kong. He is an honorary member of the American National Academy of Sciences, the British Academy of Humanities, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an honorary member of the Israel Sociological Society and the Open University. Prof. Eisenstedt is an honorary doctor from the University of Helsinki, Harvard, Hebrew Union College, Tel Aviv University, Budapest University and more. He has won many prizes and honors, including the International Belsen Prize, the McIver Prize of the American Sociological Society, he is the recipient of the Israel Prize, the Rothschild Prize and the AMT Prize. Prof. Eisenstadt is the author of many books and hundreds of articles in scientific journals .
His main areas of occupation:
Comparative study of civilizations and patterns of modernity; Japan's historical experience from a comparative perspective; The Jewish historical experience and the analysis of Israeli society; patterns of civil society and democracy in different societies and cultures; Sociological and macro-sociological theories.
You can view his biography on the Academy's website
The Holberg Award, named after the 18th century Norwegian writer and playwright, intellectual and academic Ludvig Holberg, has been awarded at the University of Bergen in Norway since 2003. Each year, one world-renowned scientist wins it. One of the goals of the award is to shine a spotlight on the humanistic aspects of Ludwig Holberg's practice. The prize is for a total of 4.5 million Norwegian kroner (about half a million euros). The prize will be awarded in a solemn and official ceremony on November 29, 2006 in Norway.
