The seminar was held as part of the agreement signed in May 2003 between the Hebrew University and Universidad ORT Uruguay.
Prof. Avni is the director of the Spain, Portugal, and Latin America Division at the Institute of Contemporary Judaism at the Hebrew University; a professor of Modern Jewish History at the Hebrew University; and the academic director of the Central Zionist Archives.
He is also the author of several books, including *Jews in the Americas: Five Centuries of History*, *Argentina and the Jews: A History of Jewish Migration*, and *Argentine Jewry: Its Socio-Political Status and Organizational Patterns*, among others.