13 Facts About Ruth Wisse

Ruth Wisse is the Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University emerita.

Ruth Wisse was born into a Jewish family in Czernowitz and grew up in Montreal.

Ruth Wisse earned her MA from Columbia University and, in 1969, her PhD from McGill University.

Ruth Wisse is the sister of David G Roskies, professor of Yiddish and Jewish literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

Ruth Wisse has taught at McGill, Stanford, New York, Hebrew and Tel Aviv universities.

Ruth Wisse left McGill to teach at Harvard in January 1993.

Ruth Wisse received one of the 2007 National Humanities Medals.

Ruth Wisse is a member of the Editorial Board of the Jewish Review of Books and a frequent contributor to Commentary.

Ruth Wisse dedicated her last book, Jews and Power, to the editor, Neal Kozodoy.

Ruth Wisse has published notable books and essays on contemporary Jewish history, including If I Am Not For Myself: The Liberal Betrayal of the Jews and Jews and Power.

Ruth Wisse has advocated for traditional marriage and gender roles, criticized Jewish involvement in communism, and discussed Jewish culpability in crimes committed under communist regimes.

Ruth Wisse has been criticized for writing that Palestinians are "people who breed and bleed and advertise their misery".

Ruth Wisse is a member of the International Advisory Board of NGO Monitor.