Hans Kohn Contents Biography Academic career Zionist activism Published works References Further reading External links Navigation menu"Nations and Nationalism from the margins: A research agenda"10.1093/lbyb/ybq038in JSTORWorks by or about Hans KohnGuide to the Hans Kohn Collection (Leo Baeck Institute Center for Jewish History)90602852XX988808cb122519058(data)1187136470000 0001 1030 2254n7912682000446033skuk0000695w6ft8p3s0312716698220783382207833"Archived copy"the original
20th-century American historiansAmerican ZionistsCzech JewsCzech historiansCzechoslovak emigrants to the United StatesSmith College facultyJewish historiansScholars of nationalismHarvard Summer School instructorsPeople from Prague1891 births1971 deathsGuggenheim FellowsForeign Policy Research Institute
HebrewnationalismPragueAustro-Hungarian EmpireWorld War IZionistPalestineSmith CollegeNorthampton, MassachusettsCity College of New YorkNew School for Social ResearchHarvard Summer SchoolnationalismPan-SlavismJudaismForeign Policy Research InstitutePhiladelphiaMartin BuberBrit ShalomBalfour Declaration
Hans Kohn (Hebrew: הַנְס כֹּהן, or קוהן, September 15, 1891 – March 16, 1971) was a Jewish-American philosopher and historian. He pioneered the academic study of nationalism, and is considered "the most influential theorist of nationalism" (John Hall, McGill University).
Contents
1 Biography
2 Academic career
3 Zionist activism
4 Published works
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links
Biography
Born in Prague during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kohn was captured as a prisoner of war during World War I and held in Russia for five years. In the following years he lived in Paris and London working for Zionist organizations and writing.
He moved to Palestine in 1925, but visited the United States frequently, eventually immigrating in 1934.
Academic career
Kohn taught modern history at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. From 1948 to 1961, he taught at City College of New York. He also taught at the New School for Social Research, Harvard Summer School.
He wrote numerous books on nationalism, Pan-Slavism, German thought, and Judaism. He was an early contributor to the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, where he died. In 1944 he published his major work The Idea of Nationalism about the dichotomy between Western and Eastern Nationalism. Kohn sought to understand the emergence of nationalism through the development of Western civilization and the rise of liberalism."[1] He also published a biography of Martin Buber. His autobiography, published in 1964, includes reflections on the times he lived through as his personal life.
Zionist activism
Kohn was a prominent leader of Brit Shalom, which promoted a binational state in Palestine.[2]
In 1929, Kohn wrote:" The means determine the goal. If lies and violence are the means, the results cannot be good. ... We have been in Palestine for twelve years [i.e. since the 1917 Balfour Declaration] without having even once made a serious attempt at seeking through negotiations the consent of the indigenous people. ... I believe that it will be possible for us to hold Palestine and continue to grow for a long time. This will be done first with British aid and then later with the help of our own bayonets -- shamefully called Haganah [defense] -- clearly because we have no faith in our own policy. But by that time we will not be able to do without the bayonets. The means will have determined the goal. Jewish Palestine will no longer have anything of that Zion for which I once put myself on the line.[3]
Published works
Western Civilization in the Near East, 1936
The Idea of Nationalism: A Study in Its Origins and Background, 1944
The Twentieth Century: A Midway Account of the Western World, 1950
Pan-Slavism: Its History and Ideology, 1953
Nationalism and Liberty: The Swiss Example, George Allen and Unwin, London, 1956
American Nationalism: An Interpretative Essay, Macmillan, New York, 1957
Heinrich Heine: The Man and the Myth, Leo Baeck Institute, New York, 1959
The Habsburg Empire, 1804–1918, 1961
Living in a World Revolution: My Encounters with History, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1964
Nationalism: Its Meaning & History, 1965, reprint/revised, 1982
Absolutism and Democracy 1814-1852, D. Van Nostrand, Princeton, New Jersey, 1965
The Mind of Germany, Harper Torchbooks, 1965
Prelude to Nation-States: The French and German Experiences, 1789-1815 D. Van Nostrand, 1967.
References
^ James Kennedy (University of Edinburgh) and Maarten Van Ginderachter (Antwerp University). "Nations and Nationalism from the margins: A research agenda". University of Antwerp. Retrieved 17 November 2017..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ Zohar Maor. "Hans Kohn and the Dialectics of Colonialism: Insights on Nationalism and Colonialism from Within". Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook. 55 (1): 255–271. doi:10.1093/lbyb/ybq038.
^
Kohn's letter is quoted in Israeli Pacifist, The Life of Joseph Abileah, by Anthony G. Bing, with a foreword by Yehudi Menuhin, p. 69. Bing calls it "Kohn's letter of farewell to Zionism."
Further reading
- Gordon, Adi. Towards Nationalism's End: An Intellectual Biography of Hans Kohn, Brandeis (2017).
- Gordon, Adi. "The Need for West: Hans Kohn and the North Atlantic Community." Journal of Contemporary History 46#1 (2011): 33-57.
- Kohn, Hans. Living in a World Revolution: My Encounters with History (1964), Autobiography, a primary source.
- Liebich, Andre. "Searching for the perfect nation: the itinerary of Hans Kohn (1891–1971)." Nations and Nationalism 12.4 (2006): 579-596.
- Maor, Zohar. "Hans Kohn and the Dialectics of Colonialism: Insights on Nationalism and Colonialism from Within". Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook 55 (1): 255–271. doi:10.1093/lbyb/ybq038.
- Wolf, Ken. "Hans Kohn's liberal nationalism: the historian as prophet." Journal of the History of Ideas 37#4 (1976): 651-672. in JSTOR
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Hans Kohn |
Works by or about Hans Kohn at Internet Archive
Guide to the Hans Kohn Collection (Leo Baeck Institute Center for Jewish History) (about Immanuel Kohn[1] and Vera Kohn)
http://www.cjh.org/collections/findingaids.php?action=searchPartners&partner=3 (biography)
http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/manuscript/guides/buber.htm (biography)
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2009-11-05.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
20th-century American historians, American Zionists, Czech historians, Czech Jews, Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States, Harvard Summer School instructors, Jewish historians, People from Prague, Scholars of nationalism, Smith College facultyUncategorized