Israel’s ‘father of geography’ dies at 101

Brawer’s life’s work was writing and editing the atlases used by generations of Israeli students and which were often called the Brawer Atlas.

By TPS and World Israel News Staff

Professor Moshe Brawer, Israel Prize laureate, founder of the Department of Geography and former Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Tel Aviv University, and considered by many to be the father of modern Israeli geography, passed away on Monday at the age of 101.

Brawer’s life’s work was writing and editing the atlases used by generations of Israeli students and which were often called the Brawer Atlas.

Brawer was born in Vienna in 1919 and immigrated with his family to Jerusalem when he was a year old, where he grew up and was educated.

In 1938 he began his studies at the University of London. At the end of the War of Independence in 1949, he returned to London and completed his certification as a Doctor of Sciences. In 1966 he established the Department of Geography at Tel Aviv University, and in 1969 he assisted in the establishment of the Department of Geography at Bar Ilan University.

“Brawer made a major contribution in the study of political geography to the concept of frontiers vs. borders,” said Dr. Erich Isaac, professor emeritus of the City University of New York, who spent a year teaching at Tel Aviv University in 1970 at the invitation of Prof. Brawer.

In 2002 he received the Israel Prize.

Brawer also served as an adviser to Israeli governments to determine the borders in the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, and also participated in discussions to determine the border with Syria during Yitzhak Rabin’s premiership.

In the years 2006–2014, he served as chairman of the Government Names Committee, which gives names to localities, intersections, national parks.

In addition, Prof. Brawer served as president of the Geographical Association and for his work received the Geographical Association Award.

Brawer’s is famous for his atlases for Israeli students. Beginning in 1950 and for 70 years, he published and edited 19 books. A few weeks ago, the 47th edition of the Brawer Atlas was published.

Prof. Gideon Biger of the Department of Geography at Tel Aviv University, who assisted Brawer in publishing the atlases in recent editions, said that “until his last day, Moshe devoted his life to promoting geography studies.”

“His mastery of the map of Israel and the world was absolute, and in every meeting with him, you were able to learn something new and especially to admire his love for the field and the great talent to teach, even at the age of 80 he would still enter the class every week and lecture to his students.”

Prof. Eyal Zisser, Deputy Rector of Tel Aviv University, recalled with excitement that. Brawer was the first lecturer to teach him on campus as part of the “Geography of the Middle East” course.

“We were all blessed with his wisdom and vast knowledge. He was a role model as a scientist and researcher involved and contributing, who worked to impart geographical knowledge to every home and every class. I sought his help until his last day,” he said.

Moshe Brawer was the son of another distinguished geographer, Abraham Jacob Brawer (1884–1975). The elder Brawer was born in Stry, Ukraine and studied at university in Vienna. In 1911, he settled in the Land of Israel.

Abraham Brawer wrote many important works, including about his travels in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Persia. He published the first modern regional geography of the Land of Israel in 1928. He was one of the three founding members of the Israel Exploration Society and its first honorary secretary.