Biographical/Historical Information
The philosopher Hugo Bergmann (Samuel (Schmuel) Bergman) was born in Prague on Dec. 25, 1883. A friend of Franz Kafka, Max Brod, and Felix Weltsch, Bergmann participated in the Salon of Berta Fanta and married her daughter Else. The couple emigrated to Jerusalem in 1920, where Bergmann served as director of the Jewish National Library and as first rector of the newly established Hebrew University from 1935 to 1938. He taught philosophy until his retirement in 1955, also writing on quantum mechanics and spontaneity in nature, and translating Kant and other German philosophers into Hebrew. Together with Martin Buber, he founded Brit Shalom, an organization promoting a binational solution for the co-existence of Jews and Arabs in Palestine/Israel. Hugo Bergmann died in Jerusalem in 1975.
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Citation
Philosopher Prof. Hugo Bergmann, Leo Baeck Institute, F 1912.