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Harold Schiffrin
| Harold Schiffrin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | צבי שיפרין |
| Born | 26 September 1922 United States |
| Died | 25 July 2024 |
| Nativity | United States |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 12208429 |
| Rank | Private First Class |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 26 (3 January – 3 March 1945) |
| Section | 4E |
| Enlisted | Rochester, New York |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Harold Zvi Schiffrin (26 September 1922 – 25 July 2024) was an American-born Israeli sociologist and intelligence officer. He was a professor of East Asian Studies and Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the founder of East Asian studies in Israel.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Harold Zvi Schiffrin (26 September 1922 – 25 July 2024) was an American-born Israeli sociologist and intelligence officer. He was a professor of East Asian Studies and Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the founder of East Asian studies in Israel.
Harold Zvi Schiffrin was born on 26 September 1922 in Rochester, New York. In 1943, as a college student, he was conscripted into the US Army and stationed at the Pacific front. During his service, he was stationed at Camp Ritchie and is considered to be part of the Ritchie Boys. The army sent him to University of California, Berkeley, to study Chinese language and culture (1943–44); upon graduating, he was stationed in Manila, where there was at the time a large community of Chinese immigrants. In 1948, he settled in Mandatory Palestine to serve in the Mahal during the Arab-Israeli War. Between 1955 and 1957, he returned to Berkeley and completed his M.A. In Chinese Studies under the supervision of Robert A. Scalapino. He later pursued his PhD in Israel under S.N. Eisenstadt. In 1961, he received his PhD from the Department of Sociology, the Hebrew University and continued with postdoctoral research at Harvard University.
On his return, he joined the Hebrew University's academic staff. By 1958, he was offering courses in Chinese history, that were attracting large crowds of students. Throughout the 1960s, when history and languages of China and Japan were still considered an esoteric academic pursuit in Israel, he insisted on the centrality of East Asia in general, and China in particular, to the political and economic international arena. In 1968, his efforts culminated in the foundation of the Department of East Asian Studies at the Hebrew University. (then known as the Department of Chinese and Japanese Studies, the first of its kind in Israel. Japanese studies was represented at the time by Avraham Altman) Schiffrin laid the foundations for the research and teaching of Chinese Studies in Israel. He assembled to the department top researchers in the field and trained the next generations of East Asia researchers in Israel. He retired in 1990, and continued to research and participate in the department's life.
Schiffrin was also dean of the School for Overseas Students (1968–70), headed the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace (1979–87), and chaired the US-Israel Educational Foundation (Fulbright Program; 1980–87). His activities on both national and international level for the aliyah of Jews from the Soviet Union and the release of Prisoners of Zion won worldwide recognition. He also held research and teaching positions at Harvard (1962–63) and Berkeley (1988–89), and was a guest of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing long before China and Israel established diplomatic relations. In 2010, he was chosen by the National Library of China as one of "the hundred greatest Sinologists of all times."
Research notes[edit | edit source]
- Sun Yat-Sen
Gallery[edit | edit source]
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Technical record[edit | edit source]
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Nara ASN | 12208429 |
| Nara Name | SCHIFFRIN HAROLD |
| Nara State | 23 |
| Nara County | 55 |
| Nara POE | 2378 |
| Nara DOE | 21242 |
| Nara Grade Alpha | PVT |
| Nara Grade Code | 8 |
| Nara Branch Code | 0 |
| Branch | Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA |
| Nara Term or Enlistment | 0 |
| Term of enlistment | Unknown |
| Defer. Date | 0 |
| Nara Source | 0 |
| Nara Nativity | 23 |
| Nativity.1 | NEW YORK |
| Nara Year of Birth | 22 |
| Nara Race | 1 |
| Nara Race Description | White citizen |
| Nara Education | 7 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 992 |
| Nara Marital Status | 6 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 71 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 181 |
| Class_ASN | 12208429 |
| Class_Name | SCHIFFRIN, Harold |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline[edit | edit source]
- Born 26 September 1922 in Rochester, NY.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Wikipedia: Harold Zvi Schiffrin
- Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
- Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
- NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
- 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Harold Schiffrin for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Schiffrin, Harold for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: HAROLD Z. SCHIFFRIN.docx)