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Golda Meir

By Heather on Mar 13, 2015 10:42 AM
Golda Meir on 1992 Israel banknote, image by Berlin-George

Golda Meir was born Goldie Mabovitch in Kiev, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) on May 3, 1898. Her father left to find work in the United States a few years later and by 1906 he had established himself in Milwaukee and had saved enough money to bring Golda and her mother and sisters to join him. He worked in a local railroad yard and Golda's mother ran a grocery store on Milwaukee's north side. Golda attended the Fourth Street Grade School (now Golda Meir School) and later graduated as valedictorian of North Division High School. She went on to attend Milwaukee Normal School (now University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and spent some time teaching in the Milwaukee Public Schools after she graduated. A committed Zionist from her teenage years, she married Morris Meyerson and together they moved to a kibbutz in Palestine in 1921 before eventually settling in Jerusalem in 1924.

She held increasingly significant roles in the kibbutz, in women's and labor organizations, and then in government in the lead up to the formation of the state of Israel. In 1948, she was one of 24 signatories (only 2 were women) of the Israeli declaration of independence. Meir held several offices in the newly formed Israeli state – Ambassador to Moscow, Labor Minister and Foreign Minister – before her election to Prime Minister in 1969. Meir was only the 3rd woman in the world to ever hold such a title. She resigned from office in 1974 after a 5-year term and died in Jerusalem on December 8, 1978.

For a more detailed chronology of Golda Meir's remarkable life, see the web page Golda Meir: An Outline of a Unique Life, from the Golda Meir Center for Political Leadership at Metropolitan State University of Denver. You may also be interested in checking out a book or DVD about Golda Meir from your Milwaukee Public Library.



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