Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
| Yitzhak Ben-Zvi יצחק בן־צבי |
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| 2nd President of Israel | |
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In office 16 December 1952 – 23 April 1963 |
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| Prime Minister |
David Ben-Gurion Moshe Sharett David Ben-Gurion |
| Preceded by | Chaim Weizmann |
| Succeeded by | Zalman Shazar |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
24 November 1884 Poltava, Russian Empire |
| Died | 23 April 1963 (aged 78) Jerusalem, Israel |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Political party | Mapai |
| Spouse(s) | Rachel Yanait |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Istanbul University |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Signature |  |
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (Hebrew: יצחק בן־צבי Yitshak Ben-Tsvi; 24 November 1884 – 23 April 1963) was a historian, Labor Zionist leader and the second and longest-serving President of Israel.
Born in Poltava in the Russian Empire (today in Ukraine), Ben-Zvi was the eldest son of Zvi Shimshelevich, who later took the name Shimshi. Shimshi was a leading Zionist activist and one of the organizers of the first Zionist Congress in 1897, who, in 1952, was honored by the first Israeli Knesset with the title "Father of the State of Israel".
Ben-Zvi was active in the Jewish self-defense units organized in Ukraine to defend Jews during the pogroms of 1905, and joined the Poale Zion Zionist political party. He emigrated to Palestine in 1907, settling in Jaffa, and later the same year was a representative in the Zionist Congress at The Hague. It was there that he first met Israel Shochat. "Bar-Giora", the clandestine precursor to Hashomer, was created in his apartment in 1907. In 1909, he organized the Gymnasia Rehavia high school in the Bukharim quarter of Jerusalem together with Rachel Yanait.
In 1910 Yanait, Ben-Zvi and Ze'ev Ashur founded the Ahdut, the first Hebrew socialist periodical. Following his studies at Galatasaray High School in Istanbul, from 1912 to 1914 Ben-Zvi studied law at Istanbul University, together with the future Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion. They returned to Palestine in August 1914, but were expelled by the Ottoman authorities in 1915. The two of them moved to New York City, where they engaged in Zionist activities and founded the HeHalutz (Pioneer) movement there. Together, they also wrote the Yiddish book The Land of Israel Past and Present to promote the Zionist cause among American Jewry.
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