(1878-1965) Austrian-born Israeli philosopher, a Zionist and advocate of the reappraisal of ancient Jewish thought in contemporary terms. His book I and Thou 1923 posited a direct dialogue between the individual and God; it had great impact on Christian and Jewish theology.
Buber was born in Vienna. When forced by the Nazis to abandon a professorship in comparative religion at Frankfurt, he went to Jerusalem and taught social philosophy at the Hebrew University 1937–51.