Ephraim Katzir

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Ephraim Katzir

| native_name = {{Nobold|{{Script/Hebrew|אפרים קציר}}}}

| nationality = Israeli

| image = Ephraim Katzir visited the Tel Aviv Wax Museum (cropped).jpg

| caption = Katzir in 1978

| office = 4th President of Israel

| primeminister = Golda Meir
Yitzhak Rabin
Menachem Begin

| term_start = 24 May 1973

| term_end = 29 May 1978

| predecessor = Zalman Shazar

| successor = Yitzhak Navon

| birth_date = {{OldStyleDate|16 May|1916|3 May}}

| birth_place = Kiev, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)

| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|5|30|1916|5|16|df=y}}

| death_place = Rehovot, Israel

| constituency =

| party = Israeli Labor Party

| spouse = Nina Gottlieb

| children = 3

| profession = Scientist

| signature = Ephraim Katzir signature - en.svg

| footnotes = |

| native_name_lang = he

}}

Ephraim Katzir ({{langx|he|אפרים קציר|translit=Ep̄rayim Qaṣir}}; {{OldStyleDate|16 May|1916|3 May}} – 30 May 2009) was an Israeli biophysicist and Labor Party politician. He was the president of Israel from 1973 until 1978.{{cite journal|last1=Arnon|first1=Ruth|author-link1=Ruth Arnon|last2=Sela|first2=Michael|last3=Shindler|first3=Colin|title=Ephraim Katchalski-Katzir. 16 May 1916 – 30 May 2009|journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society|volume=62|pages=267–275|year=2016|doi=10.1098/rsbm.2016.0015|doi-access=free}}

Biography

Efraim Katchalski (later Katzir) was the son of Yudel-Gersh (Yehuda) and Tzilya Katchalski,[https://cdiak.archives.gov.ua/images/arxiv_cetera/ac_2016_09_20/1164_0001_0514_337zv-338.jpg Запис про народження 3 травня (ст. ст.) 1916 року Ефраїма Качальського в метричній книзі київського рабинату] // ЦДІАК України. Ф. 1164. Оп. 1. Спр. 158 (колишній номер — 514). Арк. 337зв.–338. (ru) (uk) in Kiev, in the Russian Empire (today in Ukraine). In 1925 (several publications cite 1922[http://www.theage.com.au/world/underground-groups-explosives-maker-who-became-president-20090607-bzsx.html KUnderground group's explosives maker who became president]. Theage.com.au. Retrieved on 9 September 2011.), he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine with his family and settled in Jerusalem. In 1932, he graduated from Gymnasia Rehavia. A fellow classmate, Shulamit Laskov, remembers him as the "shining star" of the grade level. He was “an especially tall young man, a little pudgy, whose goodness of heart was splashed across his smiling face.” He excelled in all areas, “even in drawing and in gymnastics, where he was no slouch. He was the first in the class in arithmetic, and later on in mathematics. No one came close to him.”[https://www.haaretz.com/life/books/1.5125356 Memoir / A History of Her Own], Haaretz

Like his elder brother, Aharon, Katzir was interested in science. He studied botany, zoology, chemistry and bacteriology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1938 he received an MSc, and in 1941 he received a PhD degree. In 1939, he graduated from the first Haganah officers' course, and became commander of the student unit in the field forces (Hish).

He and his brother worked on the development of new methods of warfare. In late 1947, after the outbreak of the 1948 Palestine war, and in anticipation of the War for Israel’s Independence, Katzir met the biochemist David Rittenberg, then working at Columbia University, stating: ‘I need germs and poisons for the [impending/ongoing Israeli] war of independence,’ Rittenberg referred the matter to Chaim Weizmann. Weizmann initially dismissed the request, branding Katzir a ‘savage’ and requested his dismissal from the Sieff Scientific Institute in Rehovot, but weeks later he relented, and his dismissal was rescinded. Shortly afterwards, in March 1948, his brother Aharon, who decades later was one of the victims of the Lod Airport Massacre, was appointed director of a research unit, HEMED, in Mandatory Palestine involving biological warfare. A decision to use such material against Palestinians was then taken in early April.Benny Morris, Benjamin Z. Kedar, [https://doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2022.2122448 ‘Cast thy bread’: Israeli biological warfare during the 1948 War] Middle Eastern Studies 19 September 2022, pages =1-25 pp.2-3,p.19,n.15. In May Ben-Gurion appointed Ephraim to replace his brother as director of the HEMED research unit, given his success abroad in procuring biological warfare materials and equipment to produce them.Benny Morris, Benjamin Z. Kedar, [https://doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2022.2122448 ‘Cast thy bread’: Israeli biological warfare during the 1948 War] Middle Eastern Studies 19 September 2022, pages =1-25 p.9:'A major shift in modus operandi and personnel occurred after the return of Ephraim Katchalsky from New York, via Europe, to Palestine.82 On 13 May Ben-Gurion jotted down in his diary:‘Ephraim has come’, and then went on to list the scientist’s expenditure on chemicals and sniper-scopes (due to arrive by boat), four radar systems (still in the United States), and ‘biological materials’ that Katchalsky bought for $2,000 and most probably carried with him. Ben-Gurion decided that Ephraim should stay in the country and replace his brother Aharon as overall commander of HEMED.83 Evidently Ephraim’s efforts to obtain ‘germs and poisons’, or at least equipment to facilitate their weaponization, met with success, and we may assume that the ‘biological materials’ he acquired boosted the capabilities of HEMED B. (It is significant that the editors of the printed version of Ben Gurion’s war diary – Gershon Rivlin and Elhanan Oren – chose to delete the words ‘Biological materials $2000’ from the entry for that day.)8.'

Katzir was married to Nina (née Gottlieb), born in Poland, who died in 1986. As an English teacher, Nina developed a unique method for teaching language. As the president's wife, she introduced the custom of inviting the authors of children's books and their young readers to the President's Residence. She established the Nurit Katzir Jerusalem Theater Center in 1978 in memory of their deceased daughter, Nurit, who died from accidental carbon monoxide exposure. Another daughter, Irit, killed herself.[http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_sys/publish/HtmlFiles/20974/results_pub_id=20974.html Nurit Katzir Jerusalem Theater Center] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617015515/http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_sys/publish/HtmlFiles/20974/results_pub_id=20974.html |date=17 June 2011 }}. Jerusalem.muni.il. Retrieved on 9 September 2011. They had a son, Meir, and three grandchildren. Katzir died on 30 May 2009 at his home in Rehovot.{{cite news | title = Israel's fourth president, Ephraim Katzir, dies

| publisher=The Times of India Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd.

| date = 31 May 2009

| url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Israels-fourth-president-Ephraim-Katzir-dies/articleshow/4599456.cms

| access-date =31 May 2009 }}

[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089023.html Israel's fourth president Ephraim Katzir dies at 93] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602071737/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089023.html |date=2 June 2009 }} Haaretz, 31 May 2009

Scientific career

After continuing his studies at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, Columbia University and Harvard University, he returned to Israel and became head of the Department of Biophysics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, an institution he helped to found. In 1966–1968, Katzir was Chief Scientist of the Israel Defense Forces. His initial research centered on simple synthetic protein models, but he also developed a method for binding enzymes, which helped lay the groundwork for what is now called enzyme engineering.

Presidency

File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Pres. Katzir Shaking hands with one of the Bedouin sheikhs.jpg

In 1973, Golda Meir contacted Katzir at Harvard University, asking him to accept the presidency. He hebraicized his family name to Katzir, which means 'harvest'.

On 10 March 1973, Katzir was elected by the Knesset to serve as the fourth President of Israel. He received 66 votes to 41 cast in favour of his opponent Ephraim Urbach and he assumed office on 24 May 1973. During his appointment, UN approved resolution 3379 which condemned "Zionism as Racism". He was involved in the dispute between Mexico (where the resolution was initially promoted during the World Conference on Women, 1975) and the US Jewish community because of a touristic boycott against Mexico directed from the latter.{{Cite book|last=Katz Gugenheim|first=Ariela|url=http://libcat.calacademy.org/title/boicot-el-pleito-de-echeverria-con-israel/oclc/1122578103%26referer%3Dbrief_results|title=Boicot. El pleito de Echeverría con Israel|publisher=Universidad Iberoamericana/Cal y Arena|year=2019|isbn=978-607-8564-17-0|location=Mexico|language=Spanish|access-date=28 October 2021|archive-date=10 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410191926/http://libcat.calacademy.org/title/boicot-el-pleito-de-echeverria-con-israel/oclc/1122578103%26referer%3Dbrief_results|url-status=dead}}

In November 1977, he hosted President Anwar Sadat of Egypt in the first ever official visit to Israel of an Arab head of state. As of today, it remains the only such visit.

In 1978, he declined to stand for a second term due to his wife's illness, and was succeeded by Yitzhak Navon. After stepping down as President, he returned to his scientific work.

Awards and recognition

In 1959, Katzir was awarded the Israel Prize in life sciences.{{cite web|url=http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashyag/Tashkab_Tashyag_Rikuz.htm?DictionaryKey=Tashyat |title=Israel Prize recipients in 1959 (in Hebrew) |publisher=Israel Prize Official Site |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307203909/http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashyag/Tashkab_Tashyag_Rikuz.htm?DictionaryKey=Tashyat |archive-date=7 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}
In 1966, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society{{Cite web |title=Ephraim Katzir |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/ephraim-katzir |access-date=2022-07-25 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}
In 1966, he was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences{{Cite web |title=Ephraim Katchalski-Katzir |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/46000.html |access-date=2022-07-25 |website=www.nasonline.org}}
In 1972, he was awarded the Sir Hans Krebs Medal of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies{{cite book|title= The International Who's Who 2004|page=859}}
In 1976, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Ephraim+Katzir&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-07-25 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}
In 1977, he was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS)
In 1985, he was awarded the Japan Prize.
In 2000, the Rashi Foundation established the Katzir Scholarship Program in honor of Katzir, one of the first members of its board of directors.{{cite web|url=http://www.rashi.org.il/english/product.aspx?product=53 |title=Katzir Scholarship Program |access-date=23 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091023083415/http://www.rashi.org.il/english/product.aspx?product=53 |archive-date=23 October 2009 }}
He is also a recipient of the Tchernichovsky Prize for exemplary translation.

He also received honorary degrees from various scientific societies and universities worldwide. The Department of Biotechnology Engineering at the ORT Braude Academic College of Engineering in Karmiel was named after him during his lifetime.

References

External links

[http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/full/280/17/16529 My Contributions to Science and Society, Ephraim Katchalski-Katzir] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211002407/http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/full/280/17/16529 |date=11 December 2008 }}
[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/State/Ephraim+Katzir.htm Ephraim Katzir Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2009/PM_Netanyahu_eulogizes_former_President_Katzir_31-May-2009.htm PM Netanyahu eulogizes former President Ephraim Katzir]
[https://www.knesset.gov.il/lexicon/eng/katzir_eng.htm Ephraim Katzir (Katchelsky) (1916–2009)]
Ehud Gazit, [http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/a-vision-of-a-scientific-superpower-1.277529 A vision of a scientific superpower, Ha'aretz, 8 June 2009]

Category:1916 births

Category:2009 deaths

Category:Israeli Ashkenazi Jews

Category:Columbia University alumni

Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences

Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society

Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences

Category:Harvard University alumni

Category:Israel Prize in life sciences recipients who were biophysicists

Category:Israel Prize in life sciences recipients

Category:Israeli biophysicists

Category:Israeli Labor Party politicians