Yitzhak Ben-Zvi

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
יצחק בן־צבי‎
Ben-Zvi in 1952
2nd President of Israel
In office 16 December 1952 – 23 April 1963
Prime Minister	David Ben-Gurion Moshe Sharett
Preceded by	Chaim Weizmann
Succeeded by	Zalman Shazar
Member of the Knesset
In office 12 February 1949 – 8 August 1952
Personal details
Born	Izaak Shimshelevich (1884-11-24)24 November 1884 Poltava, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
Died	23 April 1963(1963-04-23) (aged 78) Jerusalem, Israel
Nationality	Israeli
Political party	Mapai
Spouse	Rachel Yanait
Children	2
Alma mater	Istanbul University Faculty of Law
Profession	Author, Politician, Historian, Ethnologist
Awards	Bialik Prize for Jewish thought Herzl Prize of the Zionist Organization
Signature

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (Hebrew: יִצְחָק בֶּן־צְבִי‎‎ Yitshak Ben-Tsvi; 24 November 1884 – 23 April 1963; born Izaak Shimshelevich) was a historian, ethnologist, Labor Zionist leader and the longest-serving President of Israel. He was first elected on 8 December 1952, assumed office on 16 December 1952, and continued to serve in the position until his death.

As a scholar, Ben-Zvi conducted extensive research on Jewish communities in the Land of Israel, including those that existed before the foundation of the modern State of Israel. He preserved oral histories, gathered firsthand accounts and documentary evidence, and published a number of books and articles on the subject. He shed light on their traditions, language, folklore, and religious practices through his work, which frequently focused on the Mizrahi and Sephardic Jewish as well as the Samaritan^[1] communities. The Ben-Zvi Institute he founded and directed continues to be an important institution for research on Jewish communities in the Middle East.^[2][3][4]