David Dean Shulman

For the American lexicographer and cryptographer, see David Shulman.
David Shulman
David Shulman, 2008
Born (1949-01-13) 13 January 1949 (age 75)
Waterloo, Iowa, United States
EducationPhD
Alma materUniversity of London
Occupation(s)Indologist
poet
peace activist
literary critic
cultural anthropologist
SpouseEileen Shulman (née Lendman)
ChildrenEviatar
Mishael
Edan

David Dean Shulman (born January 13, 1949) is an Israeli Indologist, poet and peace activist, known for his work on the history of religion in South India, Indian poetics, Tamil Islam, Dravidian linguistics, and Carnatic music. Bilingual in Hebrew and English, he has mastered Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, and Telugu, and reads Greek, Russian, French, German, Persian, Arabic and Malayalam. He was formerly Professor of Indian Studies and Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and professor in the now defunct Department of Indian, Iranian and Armenian Studies.[1][2] Presently he holds a chair as Renee Lang Professor of Humanistic Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has been a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities since 1988.

A published poet in Hebrew, Shulman is also active as a literary critic and cultural anthropologist. He has authored or co-authored more than 20 books on various subjects ranging from temple myths and temple poems to essays that cover the wide spectrum of the cultural history of South India.[3]

Shulman is a peace activist and a founding member of the joint Israeli-Palestininian movement Ta'ayush. In 2007 he published the book "Dark Hope: Working for Peace in Israel and Palestine" which concludes the years of his volunteering activity in the movement. Shulman is a winner of the Israel Prize for 2016. He announced that he would donate his 75,000 shekel prize to Ta'ayush, an Israeli organization that provides support to Palestinian residents in the Hebron area.[4]

  1. ^ "Hebrew University of Jerusalem Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Evaluation Report-Council of Higher Education Israel" (PDF).
  2. ^ T.S. Subramanian, 'The vandalisation of heritage', in The Hindu, Feb 10, 2008
  3. ^ K. Pradeep, 'An accomplished Indologist,' in The Hindu, Mar 10, 2006
  4. ^ Israel Prize Winner Donates Cash Award to pro-Palestinian Israeli Group Haaretz, May 11, 2016