Djamour, Judith, 1921-2009

Judith Freedman (1921/09/22 - 2009/12/20), social anthropologist on the Malay family and journal editor, was born to the Djamour family in Cairo, Egypt. She was educated at the University of Cairo and the London School of Economics (LSE). She married her fellow graduate student Maurice Freedman in 1946. The couple conducted field research in Singapore from January 1949 to November 1950, with the sponsorship of the Colonial Social Science Research Council. Judith’s research focus was Malay family life and her investigations in Singapore resulted in two monographs, Malay Kinship and Marriage in Singapore (1959) and The Muslim Matrimonial Court in Singapore (1966).

On their return to LSE, Maurice became a lecturer and Judith worked with Raymond Firth, her doctoral supervisor, on his researches into issues of family and kinship in South Borough, London. Judith was awarded Ph.D degree by the University of London in 1955 and her thesis title was The Malay Family in Singapore.

Both Judith and Maurice were committed to their Jewish identity and preoccupied with Jewish affairs. Maurice founded The Jewish Journal of Sociology in 1959 with Morris Ginsburg and became its founding managing editor. Judith joined the venture in 1963 as assistant editor and became managing editor in 1971 when Maurice succeeded to the title of editor. Maurice died in 1975 and Judith took up editorship of the journal until her death in December 2009.

References:
Alderman, Geoffrey. “In Memoriam, Dr. Judith Freedman.” The Jewish Journal of Sociology 51:1/2 (2009): 1-2.
Rubinstein, William D., ed. Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.