Golda Meir גולדה מאיר |
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4th Prime Minister of Israel | |
In office 17 March 1969 – 3 June 1974 |
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President |
Zalman Shazar Ephraim Katzir |
Preceded by | Yigal Allon (Acting) |
Succeeded by | Yitzhak Rabin |
Minister of Internal Affairs | |
In office 16 July 1970 – 1 September 1970 |
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Preceded by | Haim-Moshe Shapira |
Succeeded by | Yosef Burg |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 18 June 1956 – 12 January 1966 |
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Prime Minister |
David Ben-Gurion Levi Eshkol |
Preceded by | Moshe Sharett |
Succeeded by | Abba Eban |
Minister of Labour | |
In office 10 March 1949 – 19 June 1956 |
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Prime Minister | David Ben-Gurion |
Preceded by | Mordechai Bentov (Acting) |
Succeeded by | Mordechai Namir |
Personal details | |
Born |
Golda Mabovich 3 May 1898 Kiev, Ukraine, Russian Empire |
Died | 8 December 1978 Jerusalem, Israel |
(aged 80)
Political party |
Mapai (Before 1968) Labor Party (1968–1978) |
Other political affiliations |
Alignment (1969–1978) |
Spouse(s) | Morris Meyerson (Myerson) (1917–1951; his death) |
Children | Menachem Sarah |
Alma mater | University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee |
Signature |
Golda Meir (born Golda Mabovitch, Голда Мабович; Golda Meyerson/Myerson between 1917–1956; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was an Israeli teacher, kibbutznik, stateswoman and politician and the fourth elected Prime Minister of Israel.
Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel on March 17, 1969, after serving as Minister of Labour and Foreign Minister. The world's fourth and Israel's first and only woman to hold such an office, she has been described as the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics, though her tenure ended before that term was applied to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion used to call Meir "the best man in the government"; she was often portrayed as the "strong-willed, straight-talking, grey-bunned grandmother of the Jewish people".
Meir resigned as prime minister in 1974, the year following the Yom Kippur War. She died in 1978 of lymphoma.
Golda Mabovitch (Ukrainian: Ґольда Мабович) was born on May 3, 1898, in Kiev, Russian Empire, present-day Ukraine, to Blume Neiditch (died 1951) and Moshe Mabovitch (died 1944), a carpenter. Meir wrote in her autobiography that her earliest memories were of her father boarding up the front door in response to rumours of an imminent pogrom. She had two sisters, Sheyna (1889–1972) and Tzipke (1902–1981), as well as five other siblings who died in childhood. She was especially close to Sheyna.
Moshe Mabovitch left to find work in New York City in 1903. In his absence, the rest of the family moved to Pinsk to join her mother's family. In 1905, Moshe moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in search of higher-paying work and found employment in the workshops of the local railroad yard. The following year, he had saved up enough money to bring his family to the United States.