Overview

In April 1911, Prague artists, writers, and intellectuals often gathered nightly at the Cafe Louvre, an intellectual center where music was played and high-level discussions were held. Many of the attendees were German-speaking Jews, such as Franz Kafka and his faithful friend Max Brod, Hugo Bergmann, Oskar Kraus, Franz Werfel, the mathematician Georg Pick, and a new arrival to the city, thirty-two-year-old Albert Einstein. Is it possible that Kafka and Einstein met and exchanged ideas? Did they influence each other from a philosophical or deep-thinking perspective? In neither Kafka's nor Einstein's correspondence there is not even the slightest mention of each other. But Einstein and Kafka, two icons of our modern era, serve as the starting point for this book on the enormous contributions in the fields of the empirical sciences, humanities, letters, and arts by individuals of Jewish origin in modernity. In this book, the reader will encounter numerous names in the pages that all spring from the fountainhead of these two antecedents, the Einsteinian and the Kafkian. While Jews account for 0.2 percent of the world's population and no more than 2.5 percent of any country except Israel, they have made some of the greatest contributions to Western Culture in diverse fields that range from physics and philosophy to music and art. One register of these contributions is the Nobel Prizes: from their first recipients in 1901, 26 percent of awardees in the Nobel's six fields - among them, physics, physiology/medicine, and economics - have been Jews. What accounts for the extraordinary breadth of these achievements? This is a question that Diego Moldes examines in When Einstein Met Kafka. His answers include the history of Jewish culture itself, whether religious or secular, with its emphasis on literacy, learning, and especially inquiry and questioning. Until the European Enlightenment in the 18th century, Jews did not have full citizenship and civil rights - they were barred from universities, from government, and from entire professions. The Enlightenment opened the doors! Despite the outbreaks of violent anti-Semitism - or what Diego Moldes calls Judeophobia - and continuing discrimination in all Western countries, Jews now had legal rights, and they persevered. In a near-encyclopedic fashion, he profiles just how thousands of individual Jews, by name, made original contributions to fields as diverse as medicine, artificial intelligence, philosophy, history, economics, business, world finance, computing, sports, film, architecture, and more! The book itself is an extraordinary achievement, the result of twenty years of intensive research, yet written in an immensely engaging style that has been translated and adapted for English readers from the Spanish by Steven Capsuto.

Full Product Details

Author:   Diego Moldes ,  Steven Capsuto
Publisher:   Mandel Vilar Press
Imprint:   Mandel Vilar Press
Dimensions:   Width: 17.70cm , Height: 4.40cm , Length: 25.40cm
ISBN:  

9781942134398

ISBN 10:   1942134398
Pages:   700
Publication Date:   30 October 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

When Einstein Met Kafka Table of Contents        Part 1  1.       Anti-Semitism       Education and Judaism       World Map of Anti-Semitism  2.       Jewish Identity       Judeo-Christianity, Judeo-Christian, or Judaism and Christianity? Part 2  1. Modern Geniuses of Humanity       Intelligence Quotient (IQ)                                                                          “Overeducation”                                                                                    2. Science and Inventions       Mathematics                                                                                               Six Degrees of Separation                                                                          Artificial Intelligence                                                                                 Topology                                                                                                    Statistics                                                                                            Invention of the Gasoline-Powered Car                                                     Invention of Aspirin                                                                                   UNICEF                                                                                                     Origins of the City, Origins of Cement                                            Invention of Glass                                                                                 3. Literature and Culture       Hebrew and Jewish Modern Literature (Eighteenth to Twenty-First Centuries)                   A Nation without a Territory (Extraterritoriality)                                      Modern Literature (Authors Born in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries)                    “Electric-Fan Writers” and “Sponge Writers”                                     Franz Kafka                                                                                          Marcel Proust                                                                                       Stefan Zweig                                                                                         Some Modern Jewish Authors                                                             Angel Wagenstein’s Remarkable Trilogy of Novels                                 Dutch Jewish Writers                                                                                 Danilo Kiš                                                                                                  Literature of the Holocaust                                                                        France                                                                                                         Two Notable Cases: Canetti and Koestler                                                 Other Examples                                                                                          Italy                                                                                                            Hugo Bettauer and The City without Jews                                                 Exilliteratur                                                                                                North America                                                                                            The Pawnbroker, Edward Lewis Wallant’s Great Novel                          Playwrights of Jewish Origin                                                                     Two Spanish Examples: Aub and Cansinos Assens                                  Other Contemporary Cases                                                                        Clarice Lispector                                                                                        Latin America                                                                                            Interview with Gabi Gleichmann                                                               Interview with Ezequiel Szafir                                                                   Israeli Literature in Hebrew                                                                       The Hare with Amber Eyes: The Story of the Ephrussis                           Jewish, Part Jewish, or Non-Jewish?                                                         Conversos in Castile in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries                  4. Philosophy, History, and Thought       The Frankfurt School                                                                                 Anthropology                                                                                             Linguistics                                                                                                  Psychology and Psychiatry                                                                        Film Criticism and Essays                                                                         Hinduism and Sanskrit                                                                               A Spanish Cultural Example                                                                      Historians from Jewish Backgrounds                                                   5. Business, Banking, and the World of Finance       Building American Capitalism                                                                  Examples from the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries                       Nobel Prizes                                                                                               Various Economic Examples                                                                     Real Estate                                                                                            Shell                                                                                                      Mattel                                                                                                    Hasbro                                                                                                  Kraft                                                                                                      Danone (Dannon)                                                                                 Nivea                                                                                                    Mercedes-Benz                                                                                     Citroën                                                                                                  Philips                                                                                                   Heineken                                                                                               Hartz Mountain                                                                                     Dunkin’ Donuts       Life Insurance                                                                                       Sara Lee Corporation                                                                           Louis Dreyfus Group                                                                            BlackRock                                                                                            Tamares Group                                                                                     Bernie Madoff       The FIAT Group       Glencore       Coca-Cola       Private Aviation                                                                                    Consulting and Auditing: The Big Four                                               Jews Prominent in Germany’s Economy before the Holocaust (1825–1933)                       Jews Prominent in the United Kingdom’s Economy                                 Jews Prominent in Canada’s Economy                                                      Jews Prominent in Brazil’s Economy                                                        Jews Prominent in Argentina’s Economy                                                  Jews Prominent in Russia’s Economy                                                       Jews Prominent in Asia’s Economy                                                           Jews Prominent in Spain’s Economy                                                         Jews Prominent in the International Diamond Trade                                Jews Prominent in Marketing                                                                    Anti-Semitic Magnates                                                                              Summary                                                                                               6. Computing and the Internet       Google                                                                                                        Beginnings                                                                                                 The Example of Israel: A Start-Up Nation                                                Computer Scientists and Computer Engineers                                     7. Fashion, Textile Industry, Cosmetics, and Retail       Retail                                                                                                          Bookstore Chains                                                                           8.   Sports       Soccer                                                                                                         Basketball                                                                                                   European Basketball                                                                                  Chess                                                                                                          Boxing                                                                                                        Paralympic Games                                                                                9. Cinema, Television, Music, and Entertainment       Jews and the Movies                                                                                  Jewish Producers in Hollywood                                                                 Jewish Producers Who Won Oscars (or Had Best Picture Nominations)                    Jewish Film Directors in Hollywood                                                         Other Examples                                                                                          British Cinema                                                                                           Film Studios in the Twenty-First Century                                                 The “Big Three” Entertainment Agencies: WME, CAA, and UTA          Other Parts of the World                                                                            Acting                                                                                                         Jewish Actresses                                                                               Actresses Who Converted to Judaism                                                        A Mysterious Case: John M. Stahl                                                             Cornel Wilde: Kornél Lajos Weisz                                                            Jon Favreau                                                                                                Some Examples in Modern Cinema                                                          Film Scores                                                                                                Hollywood Films about Anti-Semitism                                                     Jewish Casablanca                                                                                      Examples of Jewish-Themed European Cinema                                       Kapo (Kapò, 1959)                                                                               Romeo, Juliet and Darkness (Romeo, Julie a tma, 1959)                    Passenger (Pasazerka, 1961–63)                                                         The Trial (Le procès / Il processo / Der prozess, 1962)                       Intimate Lighting (Intimní osvetlení, 1965)                                          The Shop on Main Street / The Shop on the High Street (Obchod na korze, 1965)         Father (Apa, 1966)                                                                               The Night Porter (Il portiere di notte, 1974)                                       Mr. Klein (Monsieur Klein / Chi è Mr. Klein?, 1976)                        Au revoir les enfants (German title: Auf Wiedersehen, Kinder, 1986)                    Life is Beautiful (La vita è bella, 1997)                                                The Pianist (2002)       Shoah (1985)                                                                                        Entertainment Companies and Television                                        Saban Entertainment                                                                            Film Meets Internet, Through Jewish American Entrepreneurs                Other Show Business                                                                        Dance and Ballet: Ida Rubinstein, Maya Plisetskaya, and Alicia Markova                 Ida Rubinstein                                                                                       Maya Plisetskaya                                                                                  Alicia Markova                                                                                     Magic and Illusionists                                                                                Music and the Recording Industry                                                             French Music Hall: Théâtre des Trois Baudets and Canetti                 Rock and Pop Music                                                                             Classical Music                                                                               10. Comics 11. Art       Collecting                                                                                                   Art History                                                                                           12. Modern Architecture 13. The Publishing Industry 14. Journalism       The Case of Naomi Klein                                                                           Photography                                                                                         15. Media and Advertising       Advertising                                                                                                 The PRISA Group and El País                                                                  Italian Media                                                                                        16. Justice and Politics       Justice                                                                                                         Politics                                                                                                        Labor Organizing in the United States                                                 Feminism                                                                                              Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)       Elected Officials                                                                                   The Pentagon and CIA                                                                         An Unusual Case in Ukraine                                                                The Obama White House                                                                     Socialism                                                                                              Anarchism                                                                                            The Greens                                                                                           Communism                                                                                         Intellectuals and Communism                                                              Josef Stalin                                                                                     17. Conclusions and Questions for Discussion     Part 3.  Appendix, Postscript, Bibliography, and Videography Appendix Postscript Bibliography and Videography Selected Bibliography                                                                                Essays, History Books, Memoirs, Biographies                                    Jewish-Themed Literature: Fiction (Novels, Novellas, Short Stories) and Poetry          Graphic Novels and Comics                                                                Selected Videography Consulted on DVD and Blu-Ray Discs                Main Websites Consulted Acknowledgments

Reviews

“This landmark contribution by a leading cultural historian, Diego Moldes, is an original achievement: the fullest and most historically grounded study of Jewish intellectual and cultural achievements and contributions. It fills a gap in the worldwide literature, at the very moment that it addresses urgent issues of the place of diverse Jewish peoples in their own contexts, especially today’s challenges not only to larger understandings but to contemporary everyday lives.” —Harvey J. Graff, comparative social and cultural historian, Professor Emeritus of English and History, Ohio State University, is the author of The Literacy Myth, Literacy and Social Development in the West and Searching for Literacy: The Social and Intellectual Origins of Literary Studies “There is no book like this one, which examines the contributions of Jews as individuals (not as a religious people) to all fields of knowledge.” —Stuart Weitzman, World Renowned Shoe Designer and Entrepreneur

Author Information

Diego Moldesis a Spanish writer, an essayist, novelist, poet, critic and historian of cinema and culture. He holds a PhD in Information Sciences (Complutense University, Madrid), a BA degree in Advertising and Public-Relations, an MA in Publishing and an MA in Foundation Management. In 2019, Galaxia Gutenberg published his bookCuando Einstein encontr a Kafka, Contribuciones de los Judos al mundo moderno. His connection to Judaism led him to collaborate withRaces: Revista juda de cultura(Roots: A Jewish Cultural Magazine). From 2015 to 2018, he served as the executive director of the Fundacin Hispanojuda (the Hispanic-Jewish Foundation). In 2015, he became president and co-founder of ONG Asociacin Fania (the Fania Association), a group which combats antisemitism and supports Jewish cultural endeavors.To date, Diego Moldes has published 14 books. Steven Capsutotranslates from Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Galician and Ladino. His most recent published translation wasAmazniaby Sebastiao Salgado (Taschen, 2022); since 2019 he has been the main Ladino-English translator for the ten-volume Posen Library of Jewish Culture (Yale). He is also the author ofAlternate Channels: Queer Images on 20th(Original edition Ballantine Books, 2000, revised 20thAnniversary edition, 2020).

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