First Klein lecture by Amos Elon

Amos Elon, one of Israel's most distinguished thinkers and writers, will give the inaugural Zanvel Klein Memorial Lecture, titled "The Changing Face of Zionism," at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 7, in the Cloister Club of Ida Noyes Hall.

An authority on post-Zionism, Elon will speak on the fate of Israel now that the state has been established and a tentative peace with the Arab world has been made.

"Elon is the most important public intellectual of his generation in Israel," said Sander Gilman, the Henry R. Luce Professor in Germanic Studies. "He's the person who's been most involved in Israel's cultural politics, the first to begin relations with Egypt -- before Sadat. In fact, his work led directly to the Israel-Egypt peace accord. He has also written most intelligently and sensitively on the relations between Germany and Israel."

Elon is the author of Herzl (1975), the standard biography of Theodor Herzl, a founder and principal leader of the Zionist movement, and of The Israelis: Founders and Sons (1971), an analysis of the founding generation of Israel. His most recent book is Jerusalem: City of Mirrors (1989), which addresses the history and meaning of the city of Jerusalem.

The lecture honors Zanvel Klein, who had a strong interest in Jewish issues. A clinical psychologist, Klein came to the University in 1971. He served as Research Associate, Lecturer and, from 1986 to 1990, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychiatry. He died in 1991.

The Klein Memorial Lecture is sponsored by the Committee on Jewish Studies. For more information, call 702-1029.