MIAMI, Fla. (Oct. 2, 2002)
-- Former Israeli President Yitzhak Navon will receive
an Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree at Florida International
University-University Park on Sunday, Oct. 6 .
Navon’s visit will also serve to formally inaugurate the
President Navon Program in Sephardic Studies, part of Institute
of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies at FIU. Navon, who served as
president of Israel between 1978 and 1983, was the first person
of Sephardic heritage to hold that high office.
The term Sephardic comes from the Hebrew word for Spain; Sephardic
Jews are the descendents of Jews that were expulsed from Spain
in 1492 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
The Sephardic Studies program at FIU and an endowed professorship,
currently held by professor Zion Zohar, are funded by a contribution
made to the university by Yovel, Inc., a local educational and
philanthropic organization whose mission is to promote Sephardic
and Oriental Jewry.
Born in 1921 in Jerusalem, the son of a long line of renowned
Sephardic rabbis, President Navon’s family has lived in
Jerusalem for over 300 years and can trace its ancestry back to
the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. Navon graduated
from the Hebrew University with a major in Islamic studies and
pedagogy.
Throughout his career, Navon, who speaks English and Spanish,
has been a spokesman and source of pride for the Sephardi community
in Israel. He won acclaim over the years for his writings, plays
and television programs presenting and popularizing the life of
the Sephardic communities in Spain and in Jerusalem.
The honorary doctorate will be conferred to Navon at a ceremony
starting at 5 p.m. in the Graham Center Ballrooms, located at
FIU-University Park, 11200 SW 8 St.
Related links:
http://www.yovel.org/
http://www.israel.org/mfa/go.asp?MFAH00g60
http://www.sephardichouse.org/identity/meaningofsephardic.html
Media Contact:
Maydel Santana-Bravo
305-348-1555 or
santanam@fiu.edu
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