Dr. Geoffrey Wigoder (1922 - 1999), a historian
and philosopher, was born in Leeds, Great Britain. He was
educated at the Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and
at Oxford University in England where he earned his degrees
in Jewish medieval history, and at Jewish Theological Seminary
in New York. In 1949 he immigrated to the newly founded
State of Israel where he was active as a journalist for
various newspapers and radio stations, most recently serving
as the founding editor of the Dialogues newsletter that
focuses on discussion between Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
He collaborated with Cecil Roth on the New Standard
Jewish Encyclopaedia and started to work together on the
16-volume Encyclopaedia Judaica. After Cecil Roth passed
away in 1970, Wigoder became its editor directing a team
of some 1,800 contributors from all over the world.
His other publications include The Encyclopaedia
of the Jewish Religion, Jewish Art and Civilization, The
Story of the Synagogue, and a 1994 edition of the Encyclopaedia
Judaica. He also edited an English concordance of the Bible
and the Oxford Dictionary of Judaism.
Wigoder taught and directed the first oral history
department at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, lectured on
Contemporary Judaism at the University of Manchester in
England, and founded and ran the Steven Spielberg Film Center
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
A pioneer in the field of interfaith relations and
Jewish-Christian dialogue, he was the Israeli representative
of the International Jewish Committee for Inter-Religious
Consultations for over 20 years and became its chairman
in his last years. His prodigious scholarship on interfaith
relations is a leading source on the subject.
Geoffrey Wigoder was one of the founders of Beth
Hatefutsoth - The Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora.
A few years ago Beth Hatefutsoth commissioned Wigoder to
compile a compendium of Jewish personalities for the museum's
databases. Unfortunately, he could not achieve this plan
as he passed away on April 9, 1999 in Jerusalem.
Although unfinished, his work is being published
here for the first time. All articles were written by him,
unless otherwise stated .
