Chaim Weizmann Of Israel Is Dead Chaim Weizmann Of Israel Is Dead Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES TEL AVIV, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 9--President Chaim Weizmann of Israel died at 6:30 this morning in his home in Rehovot, near here, after a long illness. He would have been 78 years old on Nov. 27. Respiratory inflammation was declared to be a principal cause of his death. Dr. Weizmann, a world-famed chemist, was an early Zionist and the natural choice to be Israel's first President when the new nation came into being May 14, 1948. Led Adventurous Life Chaim Weizmann's life was sufficiently full of adventure, romance, accomplishment and fulfillment to have been lived by a dozen men. He was a world-famous scientist, a statesman, leader of a forceful political movement, an intellectual and, above all, a great humanitarian.

In the three-quarters of a century through which he lived, he experienced every emotion: reward, for priceless scientific achievement; despair, when the great prize seemed lost, and triumph, when the prize--his lifelong dream of a Jewish home in Palestine--was achieved. Few great men have had more humble beginnings. He was born on Nov. 27, 1874, in the village of Motele, near Pinsk, Russia. He lived to become the first president of the modern state of Israel and to see pour into its borders the hundreds of thousands of homeless, abandoned European Jews. Many strong men and women, people of great courage, skill and ability, have contributed to the growth of Israel. His life epitomized the task of all of them in transforming Palestinian deserts into sections of rolling forests, lush olive and orange groves, irrigation and water- power projects, and centers of science and industry in the undeveloped Middle East. Theodor Herzl was the founder of the modern Zionist movement; Dr. Weizmann gave it practical direction. He acted as a moderator among the bitterly quarreling Zionist factions. Perhaps his principal contribution to the movement came as a result of his work as a scientist in the first World War.

His reward was the Balfour Declaration. It became the key to ultimate Zionist victory. As head of the British Admiralty Laboratories from 1917 to 1919, Dr. Weizmann developed a process for the manufacture of synthetic acetone at a time when the British needed it desperately. He isolated certain organisms found in cereals and horse chestnuts and within a month had created synthetic acetone for British explosives. He was also credited with having suggested to David Lloyd George the strategy of the campaign against Turkey which resulted ultimately in Allenby's victorious march on Jerusalem. For all these services the British Prime Minister asked him what he wanted in return. Dr. Weizmann refused any monetary reward or a title, and said, "There is only one thing I want--a national home for my people." The Balfour Declaration, issued in November, 1917, followed. It was Britain's promise to facilitate the Jews in making a homeland in Palestine and was hailed as the Magna Carta of the Zionist movement. It was supported by a joint resolution of the Congress of the United States and led Jews everywhere to believe the redemption of Palestine was assured.

The declaration was a central factor in Jewish aspirations even in the darkest days when war, then changes in British policy, including support of the Arab position, seemed to doom the whole idea of a Jewish homeland. Son of Timber Merchant Dr. Weizmann was the third child of Reb Oizer and Rachel Czermerinsky Weizmann. His father was a timber merchant, of modest means, who managed with his wife the remarkable task of sending nine of their fifteen children to universities. He went first to cheder (Jewish religious school) until he was 11 and then to the Gymnasium in Pinsk, where he made a brilliant record in science and mathematics. Years later when he was reputedly asked by Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, if there were many Zionists like him, Dr. Weizmann, whose celebrated remarks were legendary, replied, "The roads of Pinsk are paved with them." He left Russia in 1894 and spent the next four years in Germany at the Technische Hochschule of Darmstadt and Berlin-Charlottenburg. When a favorite professor joined the staff of the University of Freiburg in Switzerland, Dr. Weizmann went there to study.

He received a doctorate in science in 1900. Within a year, he took a position as lecturer in organic chemistry at the University of Geneva, where he taught and continued his research until 1904. He became affiliated, meanwhile, with the Zionist movement. It was in Geneva that he met Vera Chatzman, a medical student, whom he married in 1906. They had two sons, Benjamin and Michael, who was killed in 1944 while flying on patrol with the British Royal Air Force. Dr. Weizmann left Geneva to accept a post of the University of Manchester in England and in 1910 he became a naturalized British subject. He received a D. Sc. from the British university in 1909 and an LL. D. in 1919. The only major Zionist conference which Dr. Weizmann failed to attend was the first, in 1897, after Herzl published "Der Judenstaat." Criticized Herzl's "Vision" At the age of 27 Dr.

Weizmann had dared to criticize Herzl as "too visionary," and in 1900, at the Fourth Zionist Convention, he emerged as the leader of the Democratic Zionist faction. This group opposed both the political Zionists, who wanted political guarantees for the establishment of a Jewish home in Palestine, and the practical Zionists, who wanted to settle Jewish colonies in the Holy Land without regard to political guarantees. Dr. Weizmann helped reconcile their differences. His first speech to the biennial Zionist Congress in 1903 proposed the establishment of a Hebrew University. The proposal was accepted at the Eleventh World Zionist Congress in 1913. Five years later he had the honor of laying the cornerstone of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus in Palestine. On his first visit to Palestine in 1907 he was instrumental in founding the Palestine Land Development Company. This was typical of this ability to convert ideas into practical realities. For fifteen years, while teaching chemistry at the University of Manchester, he headed the "Manchester Group" of British Zionists.

In 1906 he met Balfour, who was on an electoral campaign, and convinced him that Palestine rather than Uganda, British East Africa, which had been offered by the British, was the proper homeland for the Jews. After his distinguished services in behalf of the British in the first World War, the main task he assigned himself was to remind the British of their promise to aid in the establishment of the Jewish national home. His efforts led to his appointment as chairman of the first Zionist Commission, established in March, 1918, and recognized by the British as an official advisory body on all Jewish questions. He appeared before the Paris Peace Conference in support of his cause. Dr. Weizmann visited the Arab Prince Feisal in his camp near Amman around this time and convinced him that the proposed Jewish national home held no existing threat to the Arabs and that Jewish-Arab cooperation was desirable. He won Arab support to help carry out the Balfour Declaration, and reached an agreement with Feisal for large-scale Jewish immigration into Palestine and the protection of Arab rights. Sought Jewish State in 1919 The Zionist delegation was given a hearing before the Supreme Council of the Peace Conference on Feb.

27, 1919, at which Robert Lansing, the United States Secretary of State, asked if the term "a Jewish national home" meant an autonomous government. Dr. Weizmann replied that they did not ask for the immediate creation of a Jewish administration but he quite clearly expressed his hope that he would some day see a Jewish majority in Palestine and the ultimate creation of a Jewish state. The Zionists found shortly afterward that their principal difficulties were only beginning. The League of Nations had to be organized and a mandate system worked out. It was not until August, 1924, that the status of Palestine as a mandated territory was legalized. From 1920 to 1931, and in 1935, Dr. Weizmann, as president of the World Zionist Organization, found it necessary to compromise with the British and the Arabs and to appease his various Zionist opponents. Civil war in Palestine between the Jews and Arabs added to his difficulties. The Arabs insisted that Palestine had been exclusively theirs for thirteen centuries; the Jews maintained the right of prior occupation and historical connections related to their conquest of Palestine in 1200 B.C. Blood flowed freely in frequent clashes.

In the second World War, the British rejected his proposal to train a Jewish Army. They did train a Jewish battalion but that did not come into existence until 1944. No Jewish mission was invited to the United Nations Conference in 1945 and it was not until 1946, when the Anglo-American Commission of Inquiry on Palestine was created, that Dr. Weizmann again had an opportunity to make an official plea for a Jewish home and unrestricted immigration. In October, 1947, he headed a delegation from the Jewish Agency which presented its case before the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. He accepted at that time the principle of partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states provided that the Jews were free to form a "free national unit." On Nov. 30, 1947, the U. N. General Assembly approved partition, and Jews danced in the streets of Tel Aviv. Partition was threatened temporarily when the American delegation to the U. N. switched its position and pressed for a trusteeship.

This proposal was turned down, and on May 14, 1948, simultaneously with the withdrawal of the British from Palestine, the Provisional Government of the new State of Israel was created. Elected President by Council On May 16 the thirty-seven council members of the provisional government elected him president. The honor was accepted on the next day by Dr. Weizmann at his suite here at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, crowning his life's work. "I dedicate myself to the service of the land and people in whose cause I have been privileged to labor these many years," he pledged in his message of acceptance. Dr. Weizmann's first official act of state was to visit President Truman on May 25 at the White House, where he appealed for funds to build the new country and an end of the arms embargo which kept the Jews from getting munitions from the United States. An export- import loan of $100,000,000 was authorized several months later, but no action was taken on the arms embargo. He was the honorary chairman of the board of directors of Hebrew University and director of the Daniel Sieff Research Laboratory.

His home was in Rehovot near the $4,000,000 Weizmann Institute of Science, which was created for him as a tribute from American Jews. Dr. Weizmann paid his first visit to the United States as President of Israel in April, 1949. At a dinner in behalf of the Weizmann Institute, where he was the guest of honor, he blueprinted the foreign policy of his nation as friendship with all nations whose policy was, similarly, friendship to Israel regardless of "whether or not they diverge among themselves." Israel Admitted to U. N. It was in May, soon after his return to Israel, that Dr. Weizmann realized another significant goal in his life when the United Nations admitted Israel as a member nation. This came after he had talked with President Truman during his visit here to participate in celebrations commemorating the first anniversary of the founding of the new State of Israel on May 4. It was also in 1949, in June, that Dr. Weizmann finally surrendered his British citizenship to become a citizen of Israel.

And it was two months later that he participated in ceremonies when the body of Theodore Herzl was brought "home" to Israel from Vienna to be buried on Mount Herzl. At the time of his seventy-fifth birthday on Nov. 27, 1949, he stood by while the nation which granted him the title of being its "father" gave him an eighteen-gun salute. He foretold its future by saying on a visit to Geneva that "just as some people live by the sword, we will live by science." On his seventy-seventh birthday, he was content, as on many other days, to gaze with failing eyes from his home in Rehovot, across the orange groves, to the white buildings of the Weizmann Institute. Construction of the institute started in 1944 and each year large sums of money were contributed here toward additional buildings. Although in poor health, Dr. Weizmann continued active as President of Israel and president of the Executive Council of the Weizmann Institute. In July, 1950, he urged support of United Nations measures to end the war in Korea. Later the same year he was confronted with the fall of his Cabinet and the formation of a new one.

Early in 1951 he was again confronted with the collapse of the coalition Cabinet under Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, but despite continued illness he carried on the duties of his office. He presided over the first meeting of Israel's new thirteen-man coalition Cabinet on Nov. 3, 1951, and continued to work at his home in Rehovoth, until removed to a hospital four weeks later. Dr. Weizmann was re-elected President in November, but a move to name him life President was dropped after several political parties failed to go along with the proposal. His illness drastically curtailed his activities in his second term as President, but he was able to serve as host to Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt on her tour of Israel in February, 1952. From his sickbed at Rehovoth, he issued a message on the fourth anniversary of the Republic the next April 29.

Addressed "to all citizens of Israel and to all members of the House of Israel," it said: "On this solemn day I would say this to all my brethren: the future of Israel rests on three foundations--brotherly love, constructive effort and peace near and far." His chief work in chemistry was in three fields of research: the synthesis of polycyclic substances, the production of acetone and butyl alcohol and their derivatives, and the development of protein foodstuffs for use as meat substitutes. Always a Moderate Throughout the years of turmoil and violence he had remained a moderate, and in 1931, when he relinquished his post as head of the world Zionists, he refused to give ground on this issue. He expressed his philosophy in a three-hour "farewell address." His words then might just as well have summed up his views in 1949. He said: "With a strong national home in Palestine, built up peacefully and harmoniously, we may expect, in cooperation with the Arabs, also to open up for Jewish endeavor the vast areas which for their development need intelligence, initiative, organization and finances. "The constant formulation of excessive demands endangers the safety of the mandate.

We have been searching for other ways and means. In this quest I have not always been successful, but in laying down my office, formally and definitely, today, I feel that I have brought the movement a little nearer to its goal. That goal we shall reach." Chaim Weizmann | Jewish Virtual Library Tweet Chaim Weizmann was born in Motol, Russia in 1874. He received his education in biochemistry in Switzerland and Germany . Already in Geneva, he became active in the Zionist movement . In 1905 he moved to England , and was elected to the General Zionist Council. Weizmann's scientific assistance to the Allied forces in World War I brought him into close contact with British leaders, enabling him to play a key role in the issuing of the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917 ­­ in which Britain committed itself to the establishment of a Jewish home in Palestine. In 1918, Weizmann was appointed head of the Zionist Commission sent to Palestine by the British government to advise on the future development of the country. There, he laid the foundation stone of the Hebrew University .

That same year Weizmann met in Aqaba with Emir Feisal , son of Sharif Hussein of Mecca, the leader of the Arab movement, to discuss prospects of reaching an understanding on the establishment of independent Arab and Jewish states. Shortly after, Weizmann led the Zionist delegation to the Peace Conference at Versailles, and in 1920 became the president of the World Zionist Organization (WZO) . He headed the Jewish Agency which was established in 1929. In the 1930's, Weizmann laid the foundations of the Daniel Sieff Research Institute in Rehovot, later to become the Weizmann Institute , a driving force behind Israel's scientific research. In 1937, he made his home in Rehovot . Chaim Weizmann again served as President of the WZO from 1935-1946. During the years that led up to World War II , he invested much effort in establishing the Jewish Brigade . He also tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent the issuing in 1939 of the White Paper , which in effect halted Jewish immigration to Palestine.

After the end of World War II, Weizmann was instrumental in the adoption of the Partition Plan by the United Nations on November 29, 1947, and in the recognition of Israel by the United States. With the declaration of the State of Israel, Weizmann was chosen to serve as the first President of Israel . This role he filled until his death in 1952. Below you can find pictures of Chaim Weizmann's home taken by Dr Mitchell Bard. Weizmann, Chaim Encyclopedia > History > Biographies > Israeli History: Biographies Chaim Weizmann Weizmann, Chaim (khĪmˈ vĪtsˈmän) [ key ], 1874–1952, scientist and Zionist leader, first president (1948–52) of Israel, b. Russia, grad. Univ. of Freiburg, 1899. He lectured in chemistry at the Univ. of Geneva (1901–3) and later taught at the Univ. of Manchester. Active in Zionism from his youth, Weizmann first visited Palestine in 1907.

He became a British subject in 1910, and in World War I he was (1916–19) director of the British admiralty laboratories. He became famous when he developed a synthetic acetone to be used in the manufacture of explosives. In 1917 he helped procure the pro-Zionist declaration of Arthur James Balfour . A founder of so-called synthetic Zionism, Weizmann supported grass-roots colonization efforts as well as higher-level diplomatic activity. After 1920 he assumed leadership in the world Zionist movement, serving twice (1920–31, 1935–46) as president of the World Zionist Organization. In World War II he was (1939–45) honorary adviser to the British ministry of supply and did research on synthetic rubber and high-octane gasoline. When the republic of Israel was founded (1948), Weizmann became the first president. At Rehoboth, where he lived, Weizmann founded a research institute (now the Weizmann Institute of Science). He wrote many papers for scientific journals. Ezer Wiezman is his nephew.

See his autobiography (1949); his letters and papers (3 vol., 1968–72); biography ed. by M. W. Weisgal and J. Carmichael (1962); studies by I. Berlin (1958) and I. Kolatt (1970); P. Goodman, ed., Chaim Weizmann: A Tribute (1959). The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. A Short Biography of Chaim Weizmann A Short Biography of Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann was born November of 1874, in the small village of Motol, Russia. He was the third of fifteen children born to Ezer Weizmann, a lumber transporter in the dense forest that surrounded Motol. From early on in Chaim’s life, his parents strongly stressed the importance of education. During the first part of his childhood, Chaim spent time at a local strict Orthodox Jewish school as his family was practicing Ashkenazi Jews.

The school quickly recognized Chaim’s gift for the sciences and ultimately ended up sending him to the nearby town of Pinsk to continue his learning in this area. Upon graduating from secondary school he applied to several local universities but was denied entry because the quota for Jewish students had already been filled. Not to be discouraged, Chaim left for Germany and Switzerland to study Chemistry. In 1900, he was able to obtain a doctorate degree from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. After marrying Vera Chatzman in 1900, Weizmann and his new bride moved to England where Chaim had obtained a job at the University of Manchester as a researcher. Chaim discovered a new and revolutionary way to synthesize acetone, a major ingredient in explosives at that time, providing invaluable assistance to the British government. This connection with the British government would assist Weizmann’s Zionist negotiations for a Jewish homeland. Throughout his career in England, Weizmann’s role in the Zionist movement became more important.

In 1914, Weizmann was elected to a prominent position in the General Council, and played a very important part in the writing of the Balfour Declaration by the British government (Reinharz.) The Balfour Declaration stated, in part, “His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.” In 1918 after the signing of the Balfour Declaration, Weizmann and several others, while on a trip to Jerusalem, travelled to ‘Aqaba, in southern Transjordan (Encyclopedia Britannica.) Here, he met with Amir Faysal, whom later became the first King of Iraq, to talk about Jewish interests in the Palestinian region.

The two agreed that Faysal would support a Jewish homeland in Faysal’s kingdom of Syrian (covering the area of modern day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan as promised to him by the British,) if the new Jewish settlers would respect and cooperate with the Arabs already residing in the area. This promise would later be voided, as Faysal did not receive his promised kingdom, as the British gave him the Kingdom of Iraq instead of Syria. Also in 1918, Weizmann was elected as the head of the World Zionist Organization and traveled the world relentlessly fundraising for the Zionist cause (Encyclopedia Britannica.) Over the next decade, Weizmann continued his efforts in furthering the Zionist cause. However, in the congress of 1931, Weizmann was subjected to a vote of no confidence and was not re-elected as the leader of the World Zionist Organization. After another stint with science and several years, Weizmann was re-elected as the head of the World Zionist Organization in 1935 (Reinharz.) Again, Weizmann worked closely with the British government to try and secure a Jewish homeland.

In 1939 he supported the White Paper, a plan that would split the Palestinian region into two sections, one for the Jews and one for the Arabs (Samuel.) This plan s never placed into action, as it did not have support from either the Jews or the Arabs living in the region. In 1939, war broke out on the European continent. During this time, Weizmann again went back to science along with his other duties to help with the war. He conferred with both the British and American governments on ways to better synthetically produce rubber. During this time, he helped establish the first Jewish Brigade in the British army. His son also enlisted as a pilot in the Royal Air Force. He was shot down and killed in action in 1942. Immediately after the war, Weizmann’s political career began to deteriorate. In 1945, he denounced an attack on the British government by Jewish extremists in Palestine (Samuel.) This angered many in the Zionist movement. Consequently, he again lost the presidency of the World Zionist Organization in 1946.

Though he would never return to a position of power inside the organization, he still was one of the figureheads of the Zionist movement. In 1948, he was sent to Washington D.C. to meet with President Truman (Encyclopedia Britannica.) This meeting was one of the most important in the history of Israel. During the meeting, Weizmann was able to convince Truman to withdraw all of the United States’ support for Palestine. The meeting also led to the United States recognizing Israel when it became a country on May 18th, 1948, and providing a one hundred million dollar loan. With the creation of the new state of Israel, Weizmann’s political career was not finished. He was elected as the first President of Israel in February of 1949. In 1952, after a long illness and troubles with his eyesight, Chaim Weizmann died. Over two hundred and fifty thousand people attended his funeral, and thousands more still visit his grave today.

President Chaim Weizmann Opens the First Knesset President Chaim Weizmann Opens the First Knesset Speech by President Chaim Weizmann Opening Sitting -- 14 February 1949 Introduction On 8 November 1948--in the midst of war--the first census was carried out in the new state; the resultant number of eligible voters was 506,507. On 25 January 1949, after the cease-fire on the Egyptian front had come into effect, but well before the first Armistice Agreement--that with Egypt--was signed, nationwide elections took place for the Constituent Assembly, which subsequently converted itself into the First Knesset. "Provisionally" it was decided that the elections would be held under a strictly proportional system--inter alia, because that appeared simplest, and could be applied in minimum time, an important consideration in view of Israel's ongoing struggle for recognition and for membership in the United Nations. About 87 percent of all eligible voters participated in the elections.

Twelve out of the twenty-one lists which had been presented obtained the minimum of 1 percent of the valid votes, and thus were represented by at least one member in the Assembly. There were 120 members in the Assembly--a number adopted, after lengthy discussions--as a symbol of continuity in Jewish sovereign history in the Land of Israel: the Great Knesset, the representative assembly, established by Jews in their country after their return from exile in Babylonia at the end of the fifth century B.C.E., had also been composed of 120 members. By far the largest number of mandates, 46, went to the Labor party headed by Ben-Gurion, followed by the United Workers party with 19, the United Religious Front with 16, the Herut movement headed by Menahem Begin, former Commander of the Irgun (IZL) with 14, the General Zionists with 7, and the Progressives with 5. Ben-Gurion could have commanded a comfortable majority of 65 by establishing a coalition with the United Workers party; however, this did not come about and the coalition which was ultimately presented for confirmation included the religious parties and the political center.

While negotiations for the formation of a coalition were still under way, the Constituent Assembly held its inaugural sitting on 14 February 1949, the 15th of Shevat--according to the Hebrew calendar the New Year for trees--which henceforward came to be celebrated also as the birthday of the Knesset. As a symbolic act, not lacking an element of defiance, the first sittings took place in Jerusalem--until very recently besieged--whose political future was still a matter of international controversy. Sitting 1 of the Constituent Assembly 14 February 1949 (15 Shevat 5709) Jewish Agency Building, Jerusalem, 4 p.m. The Ceremony The President of the Provisional Council of State, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, enters the chamber and takes his seat. The National Anthem (Hatikva). The National Anthem. The Opening Address President of the Provisional Council of State, Dr. Chaim Weizmann: It is with a sense of honor and awe that I rise to open the Constituent Assembly of the State of Israel, the first Jewish assembly of our day, in Jerusalem, the eternal city.

At this great moment in the history of our people, we give thanks and praise to the God of Israel, by whose grace we have been privileged to see redemption, after generations of suffering and misery. This occasion is the outcome of the tremendous reawakening of our national consciousness during the last few decades. It began approximately seventy years ago, when the best among us, the unknown and nameless leaders of that generation, arose to fulfill the age-old dream of the return to Zion and the revival of national existence. Their endeavours took two directions. The first was spiritual arousal, the return to the ancient sources of our Jewish heritage, and the revival of the Hebrew language and its literature, focusing the widely-dispersed abilities of our nation on one aim. There were also activities in the spheres of education and the dissemination of information, the open proclamation of our historic right, and efforts to obtain the help and support of the leaders of the world. Two major assemblies constituted milestones along this road: the Kattowitz Conference and the First Zionist Congress.

This path led to the creation of the World Zionist Organization, the workshop in which fulfillment was forged, and the establishment of the Jewish Agency, the supreme political institution and great settlement instrument of the Zionist movement, under whose roof we are gathered here this evening. In the words of the illustrious visionary of the Jewish state in our time, this was the Jewish state in the making. As we proceeded along this path we achieved the Balfour Declaration, the first external recognition of our right to a national revival in the land of our fathers. The second direction was that of concrete action, and was taken by those who had grown weary of waiting for the strength of the Jews in the diaspora to increase and for others to grant them recognition. They sought to hasten matters, and they came to Palestine, attempting to bring redemption to their people by the labor of their hands, the sweat of their brow, and their very lifeblood. They were the first pioneers, the Bilu'im, and all those whose ideals led them to immigrate and lay the foundations of the country. They were followed by later generations of settlers, until this great entity was formed by those whose blood and sweat, heroism and sacrifice, established the State of Israel.

Those who took the second path also created organizational frameworks and institutions of self-rule: the settlements' and towns' committees, the assemblies of the new Jewish population, the Delegates' Assembly and the National Council (Va'ad Leumi), which also met in this building. The two directions have united long since and, like the two arms of one person, have also strengthened one another. Then the great day came, nine months ago, 14 May 1948, 5 Iyar 5708, when we proclaimed our independence and the establishment of our state, and the unity of the two elements was complete. At that time, when all about us was blood, fire and pillars of smoke, war with the Arabs around us and the legacy of chaos left us by the Mandatory authorities, we were unable to hold elections and establish the state on a permanent basis. A provisional ruling body was set up, comprising a legislature and an executive, deriving its authority from previous elections. The two former supreme institutions the Executive of the Jewish Agency and the National Council combined to form this provisional ruling body. In ancient times this little country of ours bore the banner of spiritual revolt against the tyranny and violence which raged around us.

The Jewish Law (Torah) and the vision of the Jewish prophets determined a new moral code in interpersonal relations and a new regime in society. The authority of the kings of Israel was limited by the Law and the religious traditions; and the prophets of Israel were not afraid to speak out and rebuke kings and princes, defending the poor and the underprivileged, the stranger and the slave, the orphan and the widow. The monarchy itself was not approved of by the nation's spiritual leaders. "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you," Gideon says to the people. The great prophet's warning of the dangers of tyranny ring in the nation's ears until the end of time. This rebellion against the rule of one person in Israel derives from the noble belief that a free nation which accepts the rule of law and justice has no need of any constraint from above to enable it to conduct its life as a society. If the laws of modern nations are concerned mainly with limiting the powers of the monarch, this devolves from the ancient regime of the Jewish nation. It has been the lot of our generation to renew the tradition of liberty which was severed by tyrants nineteen hundred years ago.

I do not know why this generation in particular has the privilege of fulfilling the desires of all the previous ones which rotted in the gloom of the diaspora. It may be because of all the suffering and pain which have beset us the last seventy years, as one limb after another was severed from the body of our nation, until of late a third of our number was destroyed. No nation in the world has suffered as we have, but at last the vision of redemption has been fulfilled. It is our lot to bear the heavy burden of responsibility for filling the gap which has been created within the ranks of our people with the murder of the best of its sons, the bearers of its standard and the carriers of its culture. Our nation once gave the entire world the spiritual message which became the foundation of human society. The world is watching and waiting now to see what path we choose for ourselves in arranging our lives, and what the character of our state will be. It is listening intently to hear whether a new message will go forth from Zion, and what this message will contain. The birth pangs of a new message are by no means easy. The product of the creative spirit emerges only after considerable sweat and pain, hard work and suffering.

Our nation's creative ability faces a new and rigorous test. The constitution which the Knesset has been asked to prepare for Israel is a major touchstone. After having participated in the great spiritual struggles of mankind, after having dedicated ourselves and shed our blood for the liberation of other nations, we have won the right to strive for our own national self-expression, and to make our contribution to the spiritual treasury of the whole world as a free and equal nation. Let us focus our efforts first of all on increasing our creative ability by encouraging science and research in the State of Israel. Science and research are the basis of progress throughout the world. We must utilize all our achievements in science and research in the diaspora for building our country. But despite the crucial importance of science, it alone will not save us. We must build a new bridge connecting science with the human spirit. "Where there is no vision, the people perish," and we have seen where scientific progress which is not accompanied by moral vision can lead: to the atom bomb which threatens to destroy the whole world. All my life I have endeavoured to make science and research the basis of our national undertaking.

But I also know that beyond science there are lofty values which hold the solution to the ills of mankind, the values of justice and honesty, peace and fraternity. "Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness." Today is a great day for us. Let it not be considered arrogance if I say that this is also a great day for the world. A message of hope and encouragement goes forth today from this House, and from this holy city, to all the oppressed and persecuted peoples of the world who are struggling for freedom and equality. There is a reward for a just war. If we, the pitifully diminished and woefully oppressed nation, have reached this point, there is hope for all those who wait for justice. From this house and this holy city, at this great moment, we send fraternal greetings to all the scattered members of our nation wherever they might be. We extend our hand in peace to our neighbors, and in friendship to all the peace-loving nations. Our greetings and gratitude go out to all the great and small nations which have recognized Israel, and we give a warm welcome to the representatives of the foreign nations and the religious leaders who have honored this occasion with their presence.

Knesset Members, I congratulate you on your first meeting. Remember that the eyes of the whole Jewish world are upon you, and that the yearning and prayers of past generations accompany you. May we all be worthy of this great moment and this immense responsibility. Before we start our labors, let us remember the leaders and teachers of the nation, the founders of the (Zionist) movement and the commanders of our enterprise, whose vision and deeds have brought us to this moment. We reverence in particular the leader of the movement, the creator of political Zionism, Theodor Herzl; his colleague, the defender of his people, Max Nordau; Nahum Sokolow; our teacher and preacher, Ahad Ha'am; the genius of our poetry and our national culture, Chaim Nachman Bialik; the reviver of our Hebrew language, Eliezer Ben Yehuda; the pillar of devotion to Zion, Menahem Ussishkin; the flower of American Jewry, Louis Brandeis; and the great benefactor, the father of Jewish settlement, Edmond de Rothschild. We remember all our brethren in this country and in the Zionist movement who have passed on without witnessing this day with us.

We stand to attention and honor the memories of our precious and beloved children, those young heroes, who died so that the State of Israel might be established. The First Knesset of the State of Israel is convened. Chaim Weizmann: The Tale of Israel’s First President | Jspace News Chaim Weizmann: The Tale of Israel’s First President Chaim Weizmann: The Tale of Israel’s First President By Tweet on Twitter Chaim Weizmann is remembered in Jewish history as Israel’s first president, but this was only the apex of a varied trajectory that included groundbreaking scientific discoveries, humanitarianism, and a whirlwind political movement. As the New York Times wrote in his 1952 obituary, “Chaim Weizmann’s life was sufficiently full of adventure, romance, accomplishment and fulfillment to have been lived by a dozen men.” Weizmann is a product of humble beginnings. Born in 1874 near Pinsk, Belarus (which, at the time, was part of the Russian empire), he was one of 15 children from a modest Jewish family.

He was among the nine children that the family could afford to send to school all the way through university, where Weizmann excelled in math and the sciences. He went on to study chemistry in both Germany and Switzerland, and taught at the University of Manchester in England, where he became a naturalized British subject in 1910. As a scientist, Weizmann was known for his work developing synthetic acetone during World War I, when the British desperately needed it. “As head of the British Admiralty Laboratories from 1917 to 1919… he isolated certain organisms found in cereals and horse chestnuts and within a month had created synthetic acetone for British explosives,” the New York Times wrote. Through his scientific accomplishments and support to the British war effort, Weizmann was able to form contacts within the British government, with whom he worked while advocating for Zionism. Weizmann’s devotion to Zionism was spurred by fellow Zionists of the time, including Ahad Ha’am and Theodor Herzl. “He felt that Judaism implied not merely religion but peoplehood,” according to the Weizmann Institute of Science, which Weizmann co-founded in 1934.

Weizmann thought that the Jewish language, culture, and common historical memory “entitled [them] to return to their historical land and live there in safety.” In 1907, Weizmann visited British Mandate Palestine to see if industry and development could realistically be brought to the land. He met Jewish immigrants there who, in an attempt to cultivate the land, were draining swamps and fighting off the malaria that came along with it. This visit cemented his commitment to establishing a Jewish national homeland. In a way, Weizmann drove the Zionist movement to fruition. As the New York Times penned, “Theodor Herzl was the founder of the modern Zionist movement; Dr. Weizmann gave it practical direction.” While teaching chemistry at the University of Manchester, Weizmann led the “Manchester Group” of British Zionists. At this time, the Zionist movement had been considering the British government’s offer to re-settle Jews in Uganda, British East Africa. But in 1906, while the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour was campaigning in Manchester, Weizmann convinced him that Palestine should become the Jews’ state instead.

This was the first step in helping garner support for The Balfour Declaration of 1917, in which Great Britain promised the Jews a homeland in Palestine. The declaration, a pivotal document in Zionist history, served as a beacon of light for Zionist aspirations, when the darkest days of World War II and various changes in British policy seemed to threaten the establishment of a Jewish state. Weizmann also understood that the indigenous Arab Palestinian population would need to be considered. In 1919, he met with Emir Faisal, the leader of the Arab national movement, who sympathized with the Zionist cause as he felt it mirrored the Arabs’ own nationalist aspirations in many ways. The two signed an agreement of cooperation, the Faisal-Weizmann agreement, which stipulated cooperation between the two national movements as long as the Arabs were to gain independence from the British. But the French and British secretly signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916, which divided the Middle East into spheres of influence after World War I. This became a contentious point between Zionist and Arab relations, as Faisal didn’t see fit to hold up to his side of the agreement since the Arabs hadn’t gained independence from the British.

Decades later, however, when the geopolitical situation had evolved, Weizmann felt that the agreement should still hold. In 1947, he wrote to the General Assembly of the United Nations: “A postscript was also included in this treaty. This postscript relates to a reservation by King Feisal that he would carry out all the promises in this treaty if and when he would obtain his demands, namely, independence for the Arab countries. I submit that these requirements of King Feisal have at present been realized. The Arab countries are all independent, and therefore the condition on which depended the fulfillment of this treaty, has come into effect. Therefore, this treaty, to all intents and purposes, should today be a valid document.” Weizmann’s approach to Zionism was not supported by all Zionists.

At age 27, he criticized Herzl, Zionism’s founding father, as “too visionary.” In 1900, he became leader of the Democratic Zionist faction, which according to the Times, “opposed both the political Zionists, who wanted political guarantees for the establishment of a Jewish home in Palestine, and the practical Zionists, who wanted to settle Jewish colonies in the Holy Land without regard to political guarantees.” Weizmann, as a moderator, helped the two quarreling parties reconcile their differences. As a world-renowned scientist, he was also devoted to establishing science and industry in the nascent Jewish state. For example, he helped develop a phosphates plant at the Dead Sea and the hydroelectric power plant at Naharayim. In 1921, when he was elected president of the World Zionist Organization, he undertook a fundraising campaign with Albert Einstein to raise money for the Zionist cause and scientific innovation, which included establishing the Technion Institute in Haifa. And in 1925, he inaugurated the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “We must create a high culture, based on Jewish morality, and make it a center of human culture,” Weizmann said.

Later, Weizmann clashed with Louis Brandeis over competing European and American approaches to Zionism—notably over whether funding should be geared toward development or political activities, with Weizmann supporting the former. In 1931, Weizmann’s assertion that Zionism should shoot for what was possible rather than what was desirable led to the Zionist Organization ostracizing him by refusing to renew his leadership position in 1931. But Weizmann carried on. He realized that the Nazis’ rise to power, in a country that was considered one of the most civilized of its time, would help mobilize support for Zionism, which up to this point, had been met with lukewarm recognition among Gentiles. He also dedicated himself to saving European Jewry from the impending Holocaust. Convinced that the Jewish people must stand by the United Kingdom in its fight against the Axis powers, he promoted the formation of the Jewish Brigade. His two sons served in the British Army, one of whom he lost to the war. In 1942, about to depart for a meeting with then US President Franklin Roosevelt, Weizmann learned that his pilot son Michael’s plane had been shot down.

After the war, Weizmann continued his dedication to the establishment of the Jewish state, but he believed that only peace and neighborly relations would ensure the long-term security of the state that would become Israel. Therefore he supported the partition of British Mandate Palestine into two states: one Arab, the other Jewish. “We do not build our national home at the expense of another nation. We wish to build Palestine with you, together,” he told the Arab population of the land, according to the Weizmann Institute for Science. He continued to work for the acceptance of the UN resolution that partitioned Palestine into two states. Its approval by the U.N. General Assembly in November 1947 spurred the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. The Zionists won the war, and Israel was established. Thirty-seven council members of the provisional government then elected Weizmann as president, which he accepted at his suite at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where he was staying at the time. In his first act as president, he visited then US President Harry Truman to ask for funds to build the new country as well as to put an end to the U.S. arms embargo to Israel.

According to the Times, “An export-import loan of $100,000,000 was authorized several months later, but no action was taken on the arms embargo.” In 1949, he gave up his British citizenship and officially became a citizen of Israel. “Just as some people live by the sword, we will live by science,” he proclaimed to his newly minted fellow citizens. Weizmann was afflicted by respiratory illness that curtailed his activities during his second term as president. Still, he remained dedicated to leading his country. From his sickbed in Rehovoth, he issued a message on the fourth anniversary the establishment of Israel, on April 29, 1952. Addressed “to all citizens of Israel and to all members of the House of Israel,” it said: “On this solemn day I would say this to all my brethren: the future of Israel rests on three foundations—brotherly love, constructive effort and peace near and far.” Weizmann died from respiratory inflammation some six months later, on November 9, 1952.

Rachael Levy is a freelance writer who recently graduated from The American University of Paris with a degree in international and comparative politics. You can follow her on Twitter at @rachael_levy. TAGS Chaim Weizmann | Israeli president and scientist | Britannica.com Israeli president and scientist Alternative Title: Chaim Azriel Weizmann Chaim Weizmann Levi Eshkol Chaim Weizmann, in full Chaim Azriel Weizmann (born Nov. 27, 1874, Motol, Pol., Russian Empire [now in Belarus]—died Nov. 9, 1952, Reḥovot , Israel ), first president of the new nation of Israel (1949–52), who was for decades the guiding spirit behind the World Zionist Organization. Chaim Weizmann. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Early life and education Chaim Azriel Weizmann was born of humble parents in November 1874, in Motol, a backwater hamlet in the western Russian empire, the third of 15 children of Ezer Weizmann, a lumber transporter.

Motol lay close to dense forests, surroundings that instilled in the boy a love of trees that was to persist the rest of his life. He spent adolescent summers riding his father’s log rafts downriver to Baltic ports. Despite slender means, the parents arranged for their offspring to receive the benefits of advanced education after strict Jewish orthodox schooling in childhood. All except one of the children ultimately became scientists, physicians, dentists, engineers, and pedagogues. Chaim himself, on reaching 11, was sent to the secondary school in nearby Pinsk, where his unusual scientific aptitude was encouraged by a discerning science master. Upon matriculating (1891), the young student, irked by university quotas restricting Jewish admissions, left Russia to study chemistry in Germany and Switzerland, eking out small remittances from home by teaching science and Russian. After obtaining the Ph.D. magna cum laude at Fribourg, Switz. (1900), Weizmann taught chemistry at Geneva University and concurrently engaged in organic chemistry research, concentrating on dyestuffs and aromatics.

By selling several patented discoveries in the late 1890s, he mitigated his chronic financial straits and was able to help his younger brothers and sisters through college. In 1900 he met Vera Chatzman, a medical student, in Geneva, and six years later they married; they had two sons. Weizmann settled in England in 1904 upon taking up a science appointment at the University of Manchester . During World War I he gave valuable assistance to the British munitions industry, then (1916) in dire need of acetone (a vital ingredient of cordite), by devising a process to extract the solvent from maize. This achievement signally aided the Zionist political negotiations he was then conducting with the British government. Although he gained international renown as a chemist, it was as a politician that he was most eminent. As a youth he imbibed Jewish nationalist culture and ideals (as distinct from traditional pietistic knowledge) under his father’s influence. At the age of 11 he wrote a letter in Hebrew to his Hebrew teacher in Motol urging with boyish fervour that the Jewish people must return to Zion. Early political involvement Ringling Bros.

Folds Its Tent Throughout his student and teaching years he assumed increasing dominance as a Zionist politician. He initially gained prominence as the leader of the “Young Zionist” opposition to Theodor Herzl , the founder of modern Zionism, especially in the “Uganda dispute,” which erupted in 1903–05 over a British proposal for Jewish agricultural settlement in East Africa . Elected to the General Council (Actions Committee) in 1905, he played only a secondary role in the movement until 1914. Then, during the early years of the war he took an important part in the negotiations that led up to the government’s Balfour Declaration (November 1917) favouring the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine . While in Jerusalem he travelled to ʿAqaba, southern Transjordan (June 1918), where he met Amīr Fayṣal of Hejaz (later first king of Iraq) to discuss Jewish–Arab cooperation. They met again and reached written agreement during the Versailles peace conference (July 1919).

As an observer, Weizmann attended the San Remo conference of Allied Powers (1920), which confirmed the Balfour Declaration and awarded the Palestine Mandate to Great Britain. The same year, Weizmann, who had been president of the English Zionist Federation from 1917, became head of the World Zionist Organization . From 1921 onward he travelled the world tirelessly, preaching Zionist ideology and appealing for funds at mass rallies. Ins and Outs of Chemistry Weizmann’s skill as a negotiator was severely tested during the 1920s. Great Britain, confronted by the mounting problems and civil disorders stemming from nascent Arab nationalism , gradually retreated from its commitment to foster a Jewish national home. A dauntless protagonist, Weizmann nevertheless plunged into the ceaseless imbroglios of British policy vacillations, Arab and Jewish revolts, and Zionist internecine feuds and conflicts that were commingled with opposition to himself by adversaries. Conflict with Zionist extremists Eventually, Weizmann’s doctrines of caution antagonized extremist politicians.

Exasperated by counsels of gradualism, some Zionists accused him of undue amenability toward Britain in his political thinking and performance—a characteristic they averred he owed to the genteel influences of the upper English society in which he moved. His control over the world nationalist movement was challenged after Britain announced policy changes unfavourable to Zionist work in Palestine. He therefore resigned in pique in 1930 but was prevailed upon to remain in office. At the 1931 congress, however, he was subjected to a vote of nonconfidence and was not reelected president of the Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency, the expanded body of which he had been the main architect in 1929. Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Weizmann turned again to science, founding the Daniel Sieff Research Institute at Reḥovot, Palestine (1934), with the help of friends in England. Earlier, he had toured South Africa (1931) and played a leading part in public efforts to save German Jewry and its property after the advent of the Nazis (1933).

Back in office by election (1935), Weizmann supported the recommendation of a British royal inquiry commission (1937) to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab areas, arguing that “half a loaf was better than none.” Opponents furiously challenged this expedience as pusillanimity and craven submission to British interests, though in the end the commission’s plan failed because of Arab rather than Jewish rejection. Weizmann’s unflagging insistence during World War II brought about the formation of the Jewish Brigade Group in the British army. The Sieff Research Institute under his direction also aided the Allied military effort by providing essential pharmaceuticals, and Weizmann conferred with the United States and British governments on methods of producing synthetic rubber. His younger son, Michael, was killed in 1942 while serving as an officer in the Royal Air Force. Zionist antagonists revived allegations of Weizmann’s pro-British prejudice after he had denounced (1945) on moral grounds the violent campaign waged by Jewish dissident groups against British forces in Palestine. He again lost the world Zionist presidency (1946) and never returned to the official leadership. Nevertheless, Jewish people as a whole continued to revere him.

President of Israel Early in 1948, though divested of formal office, he was sent to Washington by the Zionist leadership for crucial talks with Pres. Harry Truman . Weizmann persuaded the United States administration both to drop its trusteeship plan for Palestine—a plan that would have jeopardized founding the State of Israel—and to forego its proposal to exclude Palestine’s southern province (Negev) from Israel. His intervention also led to American recognition of the newly proclaimed state (May 14) and the grant of a $100,000,000 loan. That September Weizmann became president of the Provisional State Council and the following February was elected president of the State of Israel. Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Worn out by sorrow and arduous political strife and afflicted by frail health and failing sight, he nevertheless maintained a brave front in postwar years. He died in November 1952, after a long illness. He was given a state burial on his estate at Reḥovot. More than 250,000 people filed by the catafalque. The simple, unadorned grave is visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.

Before Netanyahu: The First Trip to US by an Israeli Leader Gamma-Keystone / Getty Images Chaim Weizmann offers Harry Truman a Torah scroll at the White House in 1948 The first official visit came just days after the country was founded When Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House on Monday, it will mark the latest in a long line of similar meetings: since the country was founded in 1948, there have been more than 100 visits to the U.S. by its prime ministers and presidents. The first took place just days after Israel was established in May 1948. After being elected president May 14 of that year, the Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann—who had been in New York City when the news came—traveled to Washington to meet President Harry Truman in Washington. Not everyone, however, was happy about the situation, as TIME reported : Dr. Chaim Weizmann, 73-year-old Jewish leader who was elected President of the Provisional Government of Israel, made his first state visit this week to the President of the U.S.

Blair House, official guest house for visiting foreign dignitaries, hung out the blue and white flag of the world’s newest nation. For Zionists it was another moment for rejoicing. But from one Jewish group came a reminder and a word of warning. The small, anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism, headed by Lessing J. Rosenwald, art collector and philanthropist, pointed out: “The State of Israel is not the state or homeland of ‘the Jewish People.’ To Americans of Jewish faith it is a foreign state. Our single and exclusive national identity is to the United States. American citizens have no right to participate in the political life of the State of Israel except through the proper agencies and procedures of the [U.S.] Government.” In other words, American Jews are in the same position as Irish-Americans, German-Americans, etc. The country of their allegiance is the U.S.—and no other. The dispute over the role of Israel in the lives of American Jews—a debate that has yet to be resolved—didn’t put a damper on the celebratory visit.

Weizmann had what TIME reported was a 25-minute chat with President Truman, during which the new head of state “presented [Truman] with a Torah covered in blue velvet,” TIME noted . “Confided Harry Truman: ‘I always wanted one.'” Read more about Chaim Weizmann, here in the TIME Vault: A Long Road Sign up for

Question: Chaim Weizmann was the first president of which country?
Answer: Israel