Meir Dizengoff (Hebrew: מאיר דיזנגוף, Russian: Меер Янкелевич Дизенгоф, Meyer Yankelevich Dizengof; 1861, Akimovichi, Bessarabia - 1936, Tel Aviv, Israel) was an Israeli politician and mayor of Tel Aviv. Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel with the West Bank, the United States, and Jewish communities around the world. ... 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1927 map of Bessarabia from Charles Upson Clarks book Bessarabia or Bessarabiya (Basarabia in Romanian, Besarabya in Turkish) was the name by which the Imperial Russia designated the eastern part of the principality of Moldavia annexed by Russia in 1812. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Tel-Aviv was founded on empty dunes north of the existing city of Jaffa. ... A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger,greater) is the politician who serves as chief executive official of some types of municipalities. ... Tel-Aviv was founded on empty dunes north of the existing city of Jaffa. ...

Meir Dizengoff was born in 1861 in a small village in a province of Bessarabia, and at an early age his family moved to Kishinev. In 1882 he volunteered in the Russian army. In this period the underground organization “Narodnaya Volya”, or ‘People’s Will’, was operating in Russia, and Dizengoff was drawn to it. After he was arrested in 1885 and imprisoned for his illegal underground activities, he left the army. At that time he reached Zhitomir, in modern-day Ukraine and there he met a woman named Ziniah Berner, and married her shortly afterwards. After his military service, he moved to Odessa. There he joined the Hovevei Zion movement and met there with Pinsker, Echad Ha’am, and others, and was chosen as their representative in their conference in 1887. 1927 map of Bessarabia from Charles Upson Clarks book Bessarabia or Bessarabiya (Basarabia in Romanian, Besarabya in Turkish) was the name by which the Imperial Russia designated the eastern part of the principality of Moldavia annexed by Russia in 1812. ... Chişinău. ... Narodnaya Volya (Народная воля in Russian, known as People’s Will in English) was a Russian revolutionary organization in the early 1880s. ... Zhytomyr (Ukrainian, Russian Житомир, Polish: Å»ytomierz) is the capital of the Zhytomyrska oblast in Ukraine. ... ODESSA (German Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen; The Organization of Former SS-Members) was/is a national socialist German network set up towards the end of World War II by a group of SS officers, among whom were Martin Bormann and Heinrich Himmler. ... Hovevei Zion (transliterated Hebrew, alternatively Hibbat Zion; English translation: Lovers of Zion) organizations are considered the forerunner and foundation of the modern Zionist movement. ... Leon Pinsker (1821-1891) was a physician, a Zionist pioneer and activist, and the founder and leader of the Hovevei Zion movement. ... Asher Ginsberg (1856, Skvyra - 1927), also known by the pen name Ahad Haam (also: Achad Haam, Echad Haam etc. ...

In the process of his studies of chemical engineering at the Sorbonne in Paris, he met Edmond de Rothschild who, recognizing his abilities, sent Dizengoff to Israel to start a glass factory to make glass bottles for the ‘Baron’s Wine’. In 1892 he established the factory in Tantura but it didn’t work, owing to impurities in the sand, and Dizengoff soon returned to Russia. His path crossed with Herzl and he soon became a devoted and ardent follower, even though earlier at the sixth Zionist Council he was strongly opposed to Herzl’s Uganda plan. The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The historic University of Paris (French: Université de Paris) first appeared in the second half of the 12th century, but was in 1970 reorganized as 13 autonomous universities (University of Paris I–XIII). ... , The Eiffel Tower, the tallest structure in Paris, is an international symbol of the city. ... Baron Edmond James de Rothschild (born August 19, 1845 - died November 2, 1934) was a philanthropist and activist for Jewish affairs and a member of the prominent Rothschild family. ... Sculpting hot blown glass Glassblowing is the process of forming glass into useful shapes while the glass is in a molten, semi-liquid state. ... An erection of the penis occurs when engorgement of venous blood in two tubular structures at the bottom of the penis, the corpora cavernosa, results from a variety of stimuli. ... Theodor Herzl, in his middle age. ... The World Zionist Organization, or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization, or ZO, on September 3, 1897, at the First Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland. ... The British Uganda Program was a plan to give a portion of British East Africa to the Jewish people as a homeland. ...

Because of his Zionist beliefs, he returned to Israel a second time in 1905. He settled in the old Arab city of Yafo at the age of 44 and established the “Gulah” company, which bought land in Israel from the Arabs and British. He also became involved in the import business, and was importing machinery and automobiles. These automobiles replaced horse-drawn carriages as the transportation service for visitors arriving at Yafo port, who were traveling to Jerusalem or other settlements. He also started, with other partners, a boat company which was named after him. One of his important and respected jobs in this period was his appointment as the Belgian Consul. Jaffa (Hebrew יָפוֹ, Standard Hebrew Yafo, Tiberian Hebrew Yāp̄ô; Arabic يَافَا (help· info); also Japho, Joppa; also, ~1350 B.C.E. Amarna Letters, Yapu), is an ancient city located in Israel. ... Jerusalem (31°46′N 35°14′E; Hebrew: (help· info) Yerushalayim; Arabic: (help· info) al-Quds, Greek Ιεροσόλυμα), is an ancient Middle Eastern city on the watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea at an elevation of 650-840 meters. ...

Tel Aviv was founded on empty dunes north of the existing city of Jaffa. This photograph is of the auction of the first lots. Coincidentally, the first kibbutz, Degania, was founded the same year.

Immediately, when the residents organized themselves to begin the new neighborhood of Tel Aviv, lit. ‘hill of spring’, he joined the “Ahuzat Bayit” company which bought the land outside of Jaffa and distributed it, in lots, to the early halutzim (Israeli pioneers). Image File history File links Public domain photo of auction ceremony for lots at founding of Tel Aviv, 1909. ... Image File history File links Public domain photo of auction ceremony for lots at founding of Tel Aviv, 1909. ... Kibbutz Dan, near Qiryat Shemona, in the Upper Galilee, 1990s A kibbutz (Hebrew: קיבוץ; plural: kibbutzim: קיבוצים, gathering or together) is an Israeli collective community. ... Degania, the mother of kvutzot (small kibbutzim) in the 1930s. ... The site of what eventually became Independence Hall is the birthplace of Tel Aviv. ... A family of Russian settlers in the Caucasus region, ca. ...

Dizengoff was elected to the head of the committee in 1911, a position which he held until 1922. When Tel Aviv was granted city status he was elected to be the mayor, and in that position he remained until his death, except for a three year intermission from 1925-1928.

During World War I many people were chased out from the city and its settlements, and Dizengoff was appointed to a position of connection between the exiled settlers and the Turkish rulers. In this position he dealt with the help that was sent to the exiles of Tel Aviv and received the nickname of “Reish Galuta”. He widely circulated and publicized the difficult plight of the exiles, mainly via the newspapers, and succeeding in convincing the rulers to agree to a regular supply of food and provisions to the exiles. Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead:5 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:8 million Military dead:4 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:7 million World War I... This article needs cleanup. ...

Many groups and associations in Tel Aviv were started under Dizengoff’s stint as mayor. The most important of them was probably the “Orient Fair” committee, which was founded in 1932 and had its first exhibition that year. At first the fair was held in the south of the city, and after its huge success the administration decided to build special buildings specifically for the purposes of the fair, located at the northern end of the city. In 1934 they staged a large international fair, and a second one two years later.

The outside of Dizengoff's humble home, now Independence Hall.

As the mayor of a city that he loved and pampered, Dizengoff was emphatically involved with the development of the city and encouraged its rapid expansion. Daily he would ride along the streets of “his” city, checking to make sure everything was doing all right. He also made sure to encourage a feeling of happiness and joy in the city, and always rode his horse at the head of the “Adloyada”, the annual Purim carnival. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 1068 KB)Dizengoffs house, now Independence Hall, Tel Aviv I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 1068 KB)Dizengoffs house, now Independence Hall, Tel Aviv I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Purim (Hebrew: פורים Pûrîm Lots, from Akkadian pÅ«ru) is a joyous Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of Persian Jews from the plot of the evil Haman to exterminate them, as recorded in the biblical Book of Esther. ...

After the death of his beloved wife, he donated his house to the city of Tel Aviv, so that they would use it as an art museum, and he influenced many important artists to donate their work to improve the museum.

Fountain in Dizengoff square, by Yaacov Agam

In 1936, with the outbreak of the Great Arab Riot, the Arabs closed the Yafo harbour with the intention of halting the rapid expansion of Jewish settlements in Israel. Dizengoff, though, pressured the government to give him permission to open a port in his new (only 27 years old at the time!) city of Tel Aviv, and before his death he managed to dedicate the first pier of Tel Aviv’s new port. He opened with the words “Ladies and gentlemen, I can still remember the day when Tel Aviv had no port.” He died on the 7th of Tishrei, 1936. In his memory, they opened “Meir’s Garden.” Agams fountain - hebrew wikipedia File links The following pages link to this file: Yaacov Agam ... Agams fountain - hebrew wikipedia File links The following pages link to this file: Yaacov Agam ... Fountain in Dizengof square fountains at the La Défense district in Paris Yaacov Agam (born Yaacov Gipstein on May 11, 1928) is an Israeli sculptor and experimental artist best known for his contributions to optical and kinetic art. ... The Great Uprising, Great Revolt, or Great Arab Revolt was an uprising by Palestinian Arabs in the British Mandate of Palestine which lasted from 1936 to 1939. ... A harbor (or harbour) or haven is a place where ships may shelter from the weather or are stored. ... Tishrei or Tishri (תִּשְׁרִי, תִּשְׁרֵי, Standard Hebrew Tišri, Tišre, Tiberian Hebrew Tišrî, Tišrê: from Akkadian tašrītu Beginning, from šurrû To begin) is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month of the civil year on the Hebrew calendar. ...

The inside of Dizengoff's house, now Independence Hall, where Ben Gurion declared independence on May 14, 1948.

The main street of the city is also named after him, Dizengoff Street. (And his name lives on in modern Israeli slang, as the verb “to Dizengoff”, l’hizdangeff, which has the meaning of ‘going out on the town’, from the urban, cosmopolitan atmosphere of Dizengoff Street, still the main street in Tel Aviv. In the center of the street, they built a square which they named after his wife, Ziniah, by calling it “Ziniah Dizengoff Square”. Nowadays, the square is enhanced by the artistic creations and fountains of Jacob Agam. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1584x1188, 1246 KB)The inside of Dizengoffs house, where the State of Israel was declared. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1584x1188, 1246 KB)The inside of Dizengoffs house, where the State of Israel was declared. ... Israeli postal stamp commemorating Ben-Gurion (help· info) (October 16, 1886 – December 1, 1973; Hebrew: דָּוִד בֶּן גּוּרִיּוֹן) was the first Prime Minister of Israel. ... Fountain in Dizengof square fountains at the La Défense district in Paris Yaacov Agam (born Yaacov Gipstein on May 11, 1928) is an Israeli sculptor and experimental artist best known for his contributions to optical and kinetic art. ...

His house was converted into “The Museum for the Generations of Tel Aviv”. In this house, now called Independence Hall, David Ben-Gurion declared the independence of the State of Israel, on May 14th, 1948. The belltower atop Independence Hall, formerly home to the Liberty Bell. ... Israeli postal stamp commemorating Ben-Gurion (help· info) (October 16, 1886 – December 1, 1973; Hebrew: דָּוִד בֶּן גּוּרִיּוֹן) was the first Prime Minister of Israel. ...

External sources

• Jewish Virtual Library