חוקר החברה הישראלית

In Memoriam:
Moshe Lissak (1928-2018)

Dear Fellows,

I regret to report that Moshe Lissak died on June 10, 2018. He was a veteran of Israel’s war for independence. In 1963, he received his PhD from Hebrew University. After graduating, he went to study with Morris Janowitz at the University of Chicago. A founding fellow of the IUS, Moshe was active in administrating IUS affairs. He also served on the board of Armed Forces & Society. He was a mentor for scholars studying civil-military relations. He led by example. His scholarship went wide and deep. He was a comparative sociologist, an expert in tracing the military’s role shaping the development of Burma and Thailand. He was innovative in the construction of civil-military theory (as Yagil Levy has shown). He showed power as an historical sociologist, exposing conflicting currents that render contemporary Israeli society, this in his magisterial work on Trouble in Utopia. He retired from Hebrew University, as a Professor Emeritus of Sociology. In 2007, IUS gave Moshe the Janowitz Career Achievement Award for excellence in research, teaching, and service. We are wise to remember Moshe, for all he has been for us, a model of excellence, a good scholar, and a good friend.

Sincerely yours,

James Burk

Chair & President