Salo W. Baron, called the “dean of American Jewish scholars.” has been named to the rank of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy. The award, made by the President of Italy, Giovanni Leone, cited Dr. Baron for his “past and present contributions to the knowledge of Italian history and civilization.” Dr. Baron is professor emeritus of Jewish history, literature and institutions at Columbia University, where he served for 33 years before his retirement in 1963.
He is the author of the monumental “A Social and Religious History of the Jews,” 14 volumes of which have been published. A 15th volume, on the history of the Jews in Western Europe and the New World in the 16th and 17th centuries, will be published early next year. On his 75th birthday in 1970, Dr. Baron was honored by the National Foundation for Jewish Culture as the “dean of American Jewish scholars.” In 1961, he was called upon to testify as a witness in the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem, at which he described the enormity of the Nazi destruction of the Jewish community in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
