Iranian Jews in the Twentieth Century

The 2019 Afrassiabi Distinguished Lecture in Persian and Iranian Studies with Lior Sternfeld, Assistant Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Penn State University

In the early 20th century, the Iranian Jewish communities were largely disenfranchised, marginalized, and impoverished. About 80 percent belonged to the lowest social and economic classes, 10 percent were part of the emerging middle class, and 10 percent counted among the country’s elites. By the 1979 revolution, that situation had changed. 10 percent were impoverished, 80 percent belonged to the middle classes, and 10 percent remained in the elite. By the 1979 revolution, Jews played a role in every Iranian political camp: as supporters of the monarchy or the revolutionary movements. This talk analyzes the institutional history of the Jewish communities in Iran—and the pivotal role they played in facilitating integration and other social developments. The examples to be discussed will help us understand how Iran’s Jews adjusted to a rapidly changing post-revolutionary society, especially in light of the regional conflict between their respective spiritual and national homelands, Israel and Iran.

Lior Sternfeld is an assistant professor of history and Jewish studies at Penn State University. He is a social historian of the modern Middle East with particular interests in the histories of Jews and other minorities of the region. His first book, titled “Between Iran and Zion: Jewish Histories of Twentieth-Century Iran,” examines, against the backdrop of Iranian nationalism, Zionism and constitutionalism, the development and integration of Iran’s Jewish communities into the nation-building projects of the last century. Dr. Sternfeld completed his Ph.D. at the University of Texas, Austin. His current research project examines the origins of “Third-Worldism” in the Middle East.

This event is FREE and open to the public.

For Facebook Event Page click here