page_title: Paula Ben-Gurion
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Paula Ben-Gurion / Biography
caption_attribution_description: English: The Ben Gurion family in their Tel Aviv home. From left: David &amp; Paula with youngest daughter Renana (marr. Leshem) on BG's lap, daughter Geula (marr. Ben-Eliezer), father Avigdor Grün and son Amos Čeština: Ben Gurionova rodina: David (vlevo) s manželkou Paulou s nejmladší dcerou Renanou na klíně, dcera Geula, otec Avigdor Grün a syn Amos; 1929 עברית: תמונה משותפת של משפחת בן גוריון. משמאל לימין, דוד בן גוריון, הבת רננה, פולה, הבת גאולה, הסבא אביגדור גרין והבן עמוס. Русский: Семья Бен-Гурионов в своём доме в Тель-Авиве. Слева направо: Давид и Полина, дочь Ренана (на руках у Давида), дочь Геула, Авигдор Грин (отец Давида Бен-Гуриона) и Амос Бен-Гурион
context_page_description: Paula Ben-Gurion was the wife of David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of the State of Israel.
context_section_description: Paula Munweis (later Ben-Gurion) was born in Russia and raised in the United States.  She was trained as a nurse at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. 
  David Ben-Gurion met her at the home of his friend, Samuel Bonchek, on a visit to New York City. They married in 1917 at New York City's town hall before returning to Israel where Ben-Gurion enlisted as a soldier in the new Jewish Legion of World War I. Paula was originally against the idea of going to Israel, as her anarchist politics pitted her against both Zionism and state building. Recalling this period Ben Gurion said that she was not a Zionist, she had very little Jewish feeling, she was an American, she was an anarchist. She had no interest in Israel. "America is better, why do we need the land of Israel?" 
  They had three children,  Geula, Amos and Renana.
  She was known for her acerbic tongue. She was fluent in Yiddish, English, and Hebrew. A feisty woman, she had no qualms about asking her husband to wash the dishes.  She was bemused by her husband's interest in yoga and when his tutor, the famous Moshé Feldenkrais would show up she would say: "Here comes Mr. Hocus Pocus." 
  Paula is buried with her husband in Midreshet Ben-Gurion in Israel's Negev desert.
  In 1958, David Ben-Gurion published his letters to her: Letters to Paula and the Children.
caption: Paul Ben-Gurion and family, 1929
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