Ruth Dayan

Ruth Dayan (Hebrew: רות דיין‎; 6 March 1917 – 5 February 2021) was an Israeli businesswoman who was the founder of the Maskit fashion house and was active in many social causes. She was also the first wife of Israeli Foreign Minister and General, Moshe Dayan (1915–1981).

Ruth Dayan
רות דיין‎
Ruth Dayan in 1955
Born
Ruth Schwartz (רות שוורץ‎)

(1917-03-06)6 March 1917
Haifa, Ottoman Empire (now Israel)
Died5 February 2021(2021-02-05) (aged 103)
Tel Aviv, Israel
Known for
  • Fashion Businesswoman
  • writer
  • activist
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1935; div. 1971)​
Children3

Biography

Ruth Schwartz (later Dayan) was born in Haifa in 1917, one of two daughters born to Tzvi and Rachel (née Klimkar) Schwartz, Jewish immigrants of the Second Aliyah. She was married to Moshe Dayan from 1935 to 1971, when they divorced. During their marriage, they lived in Nahalal, and later Tzahala. Ruth's sister, Reuma, married Ezer Weizman, the Israeli air force general, Defense minister and President. Dayan had three children: Yael Dayan, a former Knesset member and Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv; Ehud (Udi) Dayan, a writer; and Asaf "Assi" Dayan, an actor and filmmaker. In 2010, Dayan collaborated on her life story with biographer Anthony David.

Ruth Dayan with Reuven Rivlin, 2014

Dayan created a sensation with her tell-all book Or Did I Dream the Dream? The Story of Ruth Dayan, coauthored with Helga Dudman in 1973, which became a best-seller. Dayan said her husband "had such bad taste in women".[1][2][3][4]

She turned 100 in March 2017 and died in February 2021, one month shy of her 104th birthday.[5] Dayan died at her home in Tel Aviv.[6]

Social activism

As a proponent of women's empowerment, Dayan founded Maskit, a fashion and decorative arts house that provided Dayan with a way of creating jobs for new immigrants and preserving Jewish ethnic crafts and culture of the various communities living in Israel.[7]

In 1955, Dayan met fashion designer Finy Leitersdorf, who designed clothes and accessories for Maskit for 15 years. The two collaborated on a joint exhibit of Maskit designs at the Dizengoff Museum (today the Tel Aviv Museum).[7]

Dayan also founded a Jewish–Arab social group, Brit Bnei Shem (Ibnaa Sam). She has worked on behalf of new immigrants, the rights of Bedouins and women's causes. She was a lifelong friend of Palestinian poet and nationalist Raymonda Tawil, mother of Suha Arafat, who in 1990 became wife of PLO leader Yasser Arafat. In 1978, Dayan and Tawil planted a peace forest in Neve Shalom, Israel. In late 2009, Ruth Dayan flew to Malta to meet Arafat's daughter, Zawha.[8]

Awards and recognition

On 11 January 2007, Dayan was awarded the Partner of Peace Award by the Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam community, a cooperative village of Jews and Arabs midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. In 2010, Dayan was awarded honorary citizenship by the Israeli town of Herzliya.[8]

Published works
  • Or Did I Dream the Dream? The Story of Ruth Dayan
  • Crafts of Israel
  • National Crafts among the Israelis & Arabs: One Path to Peace

References
  1. "ISRAEL: Life with Moshe". Time. 26 February 1973.
  2. Neve Shalom Wahat al-Salam honors Ruth Dayan and Samih al-Qasim, nswas.org; accessed 19 September 2017.
  3. Books by Ruth Dayan, BookFinder.com; accessed 19 September 2017.
  4. Grapevine: Here's... the baby!, jpost.com; accessed 19 September 2017.
  5. Ruth Dayan, matriarch of an Israeli dynasty, dead at 103
  6. Social activist Ruth Dayan dies at 103
  7. Shachar Atwan (19 August 2011). "A Leitersdorf showcase". Haaretz. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  8. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/moshe-dayan-s-widow-israel-doesn-t-know-how-to-make-peace-1.263858 Moshe Dayan's widow: Israel doesn't know how to make peace - Haaretz Daily Newspaper
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