Yehuda Karmon (Hebrew: יהודה קרמון; born Leopold Kaufmann; 17 April 1912 – 7 July 1995) was an Austro-Hungarian and Israeli geographer and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research addressed human geography, regional and economic geography, settlement patterns, and the geography of transportation and ports. He also conducted geographical research in West Africa after decolonization.
Early life and education
Karmon was born into a Jewish family in Oświęcim, then part of Austria-Hungary, and grew up in Legnica in Lower Silesia. From 1929 to 1933, he studied Jewish studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau while concurrently studying history at the University of Breslau. He was unable to complete his studies after the Nazi seizure of power.
During the 1930s, Karmon became active in the Zionist movements Habonim and HeHalutz. He visited Mandatory Palestine in 1936 and immigrated there in 1938, after which he studied at a teachers' seminary in Jerusalem. During World War II, he served in the British Army from 1942 to 1946 in a mapping unit in Egypt. He subsequently taught geography and history in Tel Aviv.
In 1947, Karmon was recruited into the intelligence service of the Haganah. He continued his military service during the 1948 Palestine war in the Israel Defense Forces.
Academic career
In 1950, at the age of 38, Karmon joined the newly established Department of Geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as a teaching assistant. He received his master's degree in 1953 for a study of the northern Hula Valley. His doctoral research examined the physical geography of the Sharon plain and its influence on the region's settlement history; the dissertation was submitted to the Hebrew University in 1959.
Karmon later became a full professor at the Hebrew University. He was also a visiting professor at the University of London and at universities in Germany and the United States. He retired from active teaching in 1981 but continued his research and publication thereafter.
Karmon initiated the establishment of the Center for Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa in 1972 and directed it during its early years. The center brought together geographical, historical and archaeological approaches to maritime societies.
Research
Karmon's early work followed the tradition of classical regional geography. During the 1950s, he concentrated on the geography of Israel, publishing research on the Hula Valley, the Sharon plain, the mountains of Safed and Jerusalem.
In restrospect, Historian Roy Marom distinguishes between Karmon's physiographic analysis of the Sharon, which he considers an enduring contribution to the region's physical geography, and his historical interpretation of settlement change. Karmon's reliance on early travelogues and maps led him to underestimate settlement during the late Islamic periods—a perspective Marom labels the "settlement-decline thesis." Furthermore, Marom contends that Karmon overemphasized environmental and technological constraints at the expense of local agency and socio-administrative structures.
During the 1960s, Karmon conducted fieldwork in Nigeria and Ghana. His research considered the development of Accra and Tema, and urbanization in postcolonial West Africa. This work culminated in his book A Geography of Settlement in Eastern Nigeria.
In the 1970s, his research increasingly addressed urban and transport geography. With Avshalom Shmueli, he studied Hebron, and examined historical urban development. During the 1980s, he concentrated particularly on the historical and functional characteristics of Mediterranean ports and port cities.
Selected works
Selected articles
References
External links