Yehuda Karmon

Yehuda Karmon
יהודה קרמון
Born	Leopold Kaufmann (1912-04-17)17 April 1912 Oświęcim, Austria-Hungary
Died	7 July 1995(1995-07-07) (aged 83) Jerusalem, Israel
Resting place	Har HaMenuchot
Education	University of Breslau; Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Known for	Regional geography; geography of ports
Scientific career
Fields	Human geography, economic geography, transport geography
Workplaces	Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Yehuda Karmon (Hebrew: יהודה קרמון; born Leopold Kaufmann; 17 April 1912 – 7 July 1995) was an Austro-Hungarian and Israeli geographer and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research addressed human geography, regional and economic geography, settlement patterns, and the geography of transportation and ports. He also conducted geographical research in West Africa after decolonization.

Early life and education

Karmon was born into a Jewish family in Oświęcim, then part of Austria-Hungary, and grew up in Legnica in Lower Silesia. From 1929 to 1933, he studied Jewish studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau while concurrently studying history at the University of Breslau. He was unable to complete his studies after the Nazi seizure of power.

During the 1930s, Karmon became active in the Zionist movements Habonim and HeHalutz. He visited Mandatory Palestine in 1936 and immigrated there in 1938, after which he studied at a teachers' seminary in Jerusalem. During World War II, he served in the British Army from 1942 to 1946 in a mapping unit in Egypt. He subsequently taught geography and history in Tel Aviv.

In 1947, Karmon was recruited into the intelligence service of the Haganah. He continued his military service during the 1948 Palestine war in the Israel Defense Forces.

Academic career

In 1950, at the age of 38, Karmon joined the newly established Department of Geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as a teaching assistant. He received his master's degree in 1953 for a study of the northern Hula Valley. His doctoral research examined the physical geography of the Sharon plain and its influence on the region's settlement history; the dissertation was submitted to the Hebrew University in 1959.

Karmon later became a full professor at the Hebrew University. He was also a visiting professor at the University of London and at universities in Germany and the United States. He retired from active teaching in 1981 but continued his research and publication thereafter.

Karmon initiated the establishment of the Center for Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa in 1972 and directed it during its early years. The center brought together geographical, historical and archaeological approaches to maritime societies.

Research

Karmon's early work followed the tradition of classical regional geography. During the 1950s, he concentrated on the geography of Israel, publishing research on the Hula Valley, the Sharon plain, the mountains of Safed and Jerusalem.

In restrospect, Historian Roy Marom distinguishes between Karmon's physiographic analysis of the Sharon, which he considers an enduring contribution to the region's physical geography, and his historical interpretation of settlement change. Karmon's reliance on early travelogues and maps led him to underestimate settlement during the late Islamic periods—a perspective Marom labels the "settlement-decline thesis." Furthermore, Marom contends that Karmon overemphasized environmental and technological constraints at the expense of local agency and socio-administrative structures.

During the 1960s, Karmon conducted fieldwork in Nigeria and Ghana. His research considered the development of Accra and Tema, and urbanization in postcolonial West Africa. This work culminated in his book A Geography of Settlement in Eastern Nigeria.

In the 1970s, his research increasingly addressed urban and transport geography. With Avshalom Shmueli, he studied Hebron, and examined historical urban development. During the 1980s, he concentrated particularly on the historical and functional characteristics of Mediterranean ports and port cities.

Selected works

Karmon, Yehuda (1956). The Northern Huleh Valley: A Chapter in the History of the Landscape of Israel [עמק החולה הצפוני: פרק בתולדות הנוף של ארץ ישראל] (in Hebrew). Jerusalem.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Karmon, Yehuda; Brawer, Moshe (1962). Atlas of the Middle East: Physical, Economic and Political [אטלס המזרח התיכון: פיסי, כלכלי ומדיני] (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Karmon, Yehuda (1966). A Geography of Settlement in Eastern Nigeria. Scripta Hierosolymitana. Vol. 15. Jerusalem: Magnes Press.

Karmon, Yehuda; Shmueli, Avshalom (1970). Hebron: The Character of a Mountain City [חברון: דמותה של עיר הררית] (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Karmon, Yehuda (1971). Israel: A Regional Geography. London and New York: Wiley-Interscience. ISBN 9780471458708.

Karmon, Yehuda (1977). The Land of Israel: A Geography of the Country and Its Regions [ארץ ישראל: גאוגרפיה של הארץ ואזוריה] (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Karmon, Yehuda (1980). Ports Around the World. New York: Crown Publishers.

Selected articles

Karmon, Yehuda (1953). "The Settlement of the Northern Huleh Valley since 1838". Israel Exploration Journal. 3: 4–25.

Karmon, Yehuda (1956). "Geographical Aspects in the History of the Coastal Plain of Israel". Israel Exploration Journal: 33–50.

Karmon, Yehuda (1960). "The Drainage of the Huleh Swamps". Geographical Review. 50 (2): 169–193.

Karmon, Yehuda (1960). "An Analysis of Jacotin's Map of Palestine". Israel Exploration Journal. 10: 155–173, 244–253.

Karmon, Yehuda (1961). "Geographical Influences on the Historical Routes in the Sharon Plain". Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 93: 43–60.

Karmon, Yehuda (1965). "Ashdod, a New Mediterranean Port in Israel". Geography: 254–258.

Karmon, Yehuda (1971). "The Vineyards of Hebron". Geografisch Tijdschrift. 5: 501–510.

Karmon, Yehuda (1975). "Changes in the Urban Geography of Hebron During the Nineteenth Century". In Ma'oz, Moshe (ed.). Studies on Palestine during the Ottoman Period. Jerusalem: Magnes Press. pp. 70–86.

External links

Memorial page at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem