Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi

Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi (Hebrew: רחל ינאית בן-צבי‎‎; 1886 – 16 November 1979) was an Israeli author and educator, and a leading Labor Zionist. Ben-Zvi was the wife of the second President of Israel, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.

Ben-Zvi with her husband (centre) on a visit to Rehovot

Biography

Rachel Yanait was born Golda Lishansky in the town of Malyn, Radomyslsky Uyezd of the Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire (now Ukraine). She was active in the leftist Zionist party, Poale Zion. In 1908, she emigrated to Palestine, which was then under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. She was one of the founding members of Poale Zion in Palestine. In 1911 she studied agriculture in University of Grenoble. On graduating she returned to Palestine. During the First World War she was the only leader of Poale Zion who remaining in Palestine.[1] After the war she changed her name to Yanait, after the Hashmonean king Alexander Yannai.[2] She was active in organizing labor and organizing the Jewish watchman force, Hashomer. In 1918, she married Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, another activist in Poale Zion and Hashomer. They had two sons together.

Ben Zvi, Zerubavel, Ben Gurion & Yanait Ben Zvi 1911
Rachel Yanait with Yitzhak Ben Zvi 1913

After World War I, Ben-Zvi founded "The Educational Farm" in Jerusalem; a farm that provided agricultural education for women. She was among the founders of "The Hebrew Gymnasium" in Jerusalem and remained a labor activist. She was also active in the Haganah paramilitary organization and organized the clandestine aliyah of immigrants through Syria and Lebanon.

Her son, Eli, died in March 1948 at Beit Keshet during the civil war in Mandatory Palestine.

After the founding of the State of Israel, she was active in the absorption of immigrants from Arab countries.

In 1952, her husband was appointed as the president of Israel. As the first lady of Israel, she opened the president's house to people from all the strata of Israeli society. During that time, she wrote about education and defense and wrote an autobiography called We are Olim (אנו עולים / anu olim), which was published in 1961.

In 1978, Ben-Zvi was awarded the Israel Prize for her special contribution to society and the State of Israel.[3] She died on 16 November 1979.

See also

References
  1. Teveth, Shabtai (1987) Ben-Gurion. The Burning Ground. 1886-1948. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-35409-9. p. 135
  2. Teveth, p.73
  3. "Israel Prize Official Site - Recipients in 1978 (in Hebrew)".
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