Yosef Sprinzak
Yosef Sprinzak | |
|---|---|
יוֹסֵף שְׁפְּרִינְצָק | |
| Acting President of Israel | |
| In office 9 November 1952 – 16 December 1952 | |
| Prime Minister | David Ben-Gurion |
| Preceded by | Chaim Weizmann |
| Succeeded by | Yitzhak Ben-Zvi |
| Speaker of the Knesset | |
| In office 14 February 1949 – 28 January 1959 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Nahum Nir |
| Faction represented in the Knesset | |
| 1949–1959 | Mapai |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 December 1885 |
| Died | 28 January 1959 (aged 73) |
Yosef Sprinzak (Hebrew: יוֹסֵף שְׁפְּרִינְצָק; 8 December 1885 – 28 January 1959) was a leading Zionist activist in the first half of the 20th century, an Israeli politician, and the first Speaker of the Knesset, a role he held from 1949 until his death in 1959.
Biography
Yosef Sprinzak was born in Moscow, Russia but following the expulsion of Jews in 1891 moved with his family to Kishinev where he was a founder of the Tze'irei Zion (Zion Youth). He began medical school at the American University in Beirut in 1908 and settled in Palestine in 1910, during the Second Aliyah (1904–1914).
Along with Eliezer Kaplan Sprinzak headed Hapoel Hatzair ("The Young Worker") a Zionist socialist faction formed in 1905 and one of the organisations that consolidated to form Mapai in 1930. Its members were pro-British and supported Chaim Weizmann.[1] He was a founder of the Histadrut in 1920 and acted as secretary general of the organisation from 1945 to 1949.
His son Yair Sprinzak also served in the Knesset. Another son, Aharon David Sprinzak, an Israeli Air Force pilot, was killed in action during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. His grandson, Ehud Sprinzak (1940–2002) was one of Israel's foremost experts on counterterrorism and far-right Jewish groups.[2]
Political career
Sprinzak was elected to the position of speaker of the provisional parliament on 15 July 1948,[3] a role in which he helped lay the foundations of Israel's parliamentarism.[4] He was elected to the first Knesset in 1949 as a member of Mapai, and became the Speaker of the new body. He was re-elected and remained speaker in both the second and third Knessets.
As part of his role as speaker, Sprinzak became acting President of Israel when Chaim Weizmann fell ill from 12 December 1951. After Weizmann's death on 9 November 1952 Sprinzak served as interim President until inauguration of Yitzhak Ben-Zvi on 10 December 1952.
Among other actions, in 1949 to celebrate the Israel's new parliament, Sprinzak invited Franco-Israeli painter, Yitzhak Frenkel to paint a 50 square meter commemorative painting of the First Knesset. The painting was not completed due to economic and political factors of the Education ministry.[5][6]
Commemoration
Kiryat Sprinzak, a neighbourhood in Haifa and Beit Shprinzak, a sanatorium in Nazareth are named in his memory.
References
- ^ Sofer, 2003, pp. xi; xii; 99.
- ^ "Ehud Sprinzak, 62; Studied Israel Far Right". The New York Times. 12 November 2002.
- ^ Goldberg, 2003, p. 32.
- ^ Sofer, 1998, p. 115.
- ^ "One artist is expected to throw his works outside". Yedioth Ahronot (in Hebrew). 1949.
- ^ Poershtein, A (7 October 1949). "Yitzhak Frenkel". HaOlam Haze (in Hebrew).
Bibliography
- Goldberg, Giora (2003). Ben-Gurion Against the Knesset. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-5556-2
- Sofer, Sasson (1998). Zionism and the Foundations of Israeli Diplomacy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-63012-6
External links
Media related to Yosef Sprinzak at Wikimedia Commons
- Yosef Sprinzak on the Knesset website
- Jewish Virtual Library