Heyd, Uriel
HEYD, URIEL
HEYD, URIEL (1913–1968), Israel historian of Muslim institutions. Heyd was born in Cologne, Germany. He settled in Palestine in 1934. After service with the Political Department, Middle East section of the Jewish Agency, in Jerusalem and London (1943–48), he joined the Israel diplomatic corps, initially as first secretary of the Washington embassy, then as counselor of the legation in Ankara. His academic career began in 1951, when he joined the staff of the Hebrew University. From 1956 to 1963 he chaired the university's Institute of Oriental Studies, becoming a full professor of Islamic history in 1959.
Heyd's scholarly interest centered on the Ottoman Empire from the 16th to the 20th centuries. His books in Hebrew include Dahir al-Umar, Shalit ha-Galil ("Dahir al-Umar, Ruler of Galilee," 1942) and a translation from the Turkish of Mahmud Makal's Bizim Köy (Ha-Kefar Shellanu – "Our Village," 1951). Among his books in English are The Foundations of Turkish Nationalism (1950), Language Reform in Modern Turkey (1954), Ottoman Documents on Palestine 1552–1615 (1960), Revival of Islam in Modern Turkey (1968), and the posthumous Studies in Old Ottoman Criminal Law (1973). He edited Studies in Islamic History and Civilization (1961). His article "The Ottoman Ulema and Westernization in the Time of Selim iii and Mahmud ii" (in Scripta Hierosolymitana, vol. 9, 1960) remains a major contribution.
add. bibliography:
'Al Professor Uriel Heyd (1968); H. Inaleik, "Prof. Dr. Uriel Heyd," in: Belleten, 33, no. 129 (Jan. 1969), 115–16; A.N. Layish, "Uriel Heyd's Contribution…, in: British Society for Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin, 9, no. 1 (1982), 35–54; J.M. Landau, "Uriel Heyd, Founder of Turkish Studies in Israel," in: Veröffentlichungen der Societas Uralo-Altaica, 56 (2002), 237–44.
[Norman Itzkowitz /
Jacob M. Landau (2nd ed.)]