DOV RONEN

1933 - 2021

RONEN, Dov Political Scientist/Holocaust Survivor Dr. Dov Ronen passed peacefully with extraordinary hospice support and holding his son's hand, on July 30, 2021 of cancer. Dov (ne Tamás Oszkár Rubicsek) was born in Bekescsaba, Hungary in 1933 to Jeno Rubicsek, and Yolan Rubicsek (nee Spagatner, later Miriam Lola Schwartz). As a boy, he excelled in his academic studies, loved to read, and to play the piano. Dov's childhood was violently disrupted by the Holocaust. Dov, his mother, and brother survived by hiding and through the kindness and courage of family, neighbors, and friends (his father survived Hungarian labor camps). The details of his survival can be read in his memoir "What on Earth Am I Doing Here?" The family was reunited after the war and, in 1949, migrated to Israel. Dov was a member of Kibbutz Szold, served in the Israeli Air Force, met his American wife, Naomi (Ronen, nee Ross) and attended Hebrew University (where he later served as a faculty member), graduating with degrees in Sociology and Political Science in 1963. He moved to the USA to pursue a PhD at Indiana University, and carried out his research in the West African nation of Benin (then Dahomey). Naomi, his lovely and brilliant wife, helped edit the dissertation and typed four copies of it on a typewriter. He received his PhD in 1969 in the afternoon. After completing his dissertation, Dr. Ronen was affiliated with various universities, including Purdue and Tufts, but the longest stint was with a "pretty good" university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was the director of the African Research Program at Harvard's Center for International Affairs and taught political science classes at the Harvard Extension School. In retirement he led a free seminar on the biological and psychological foundations of society (with the Harvard Department of Psychiatry). In addition to his memoir, he published several academic books, including the well-received "The Quest for Self Determination." He and Naomi were 3 weeks shy of their 60th wedding anniversary upon his death. In life, they had three children on three different continents: David Ronen (Jeanne) - North America, Mihal Ronen (Bruce McKee) - Africa, and Gili Ronen (Derek Ziegler) - Middle East/Asia. All 5 of his grandchildren, Noah, Sara, Grace, Joshua and Melanie, were born in the USA. Dov was very proud of Naomi who served for 31 years as a beloved and honored reference librarian at the Harvard University Law School. They shared a love of international travel and classical music. When Naomi developed Lewy Body Dementia, they moved to assisted living at Neville Place in Cambridge and then to Chestnut Park in Brighton where he became an integral part of the community and where he lovingly and faithfully cared for her. He was known among friends and colleagues for his superb Hungarian goulash, as an excellent host for international travelers, as always being "yummy-yummy" (even through spinal stenosis pain) and as a teacher, eager to share his perspectives on nationalized healthcare and educational systems, among many other topics. In addition to his wife, children, grandchildren, and two nieces, Dov is survived by his brother, Dani Ronen, with whom he was very close despite the distance between Boston and Israel. He is laid to rest at Greensprings Natural Cemetery and Land Preserve in Ithaca, NY. Donations can be made in Dov Ronen's name to Doctors Without Borders or Boston's hospice and palliative care organization Good Shepherd Community Care.

View the online memorial for Dov RONEN