Immigrant of the Day: Golda Meir (Russian Empire)

Golda Meir (1898-1978) was the fourth prime minister, and a founder of the nation, of Israel. After serving as the Minister of Labour and Foreign Minister, Meir became Prime Minister of Israel on March 17, 1969.  She was Israel’s first woman prime minister.

Meir was born as Golda Mabovitch in Kiev in the Russian Empire, today Ukraine. Meir wrote in her autobiography that her earliest memories were of her father boarding up the front door in response to rumors of a pogrom. Her family moved to the United States in 1906 and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where her father found a job as a carpenter and her mother ran a grocery store. Meir attended the Fourth Street School (now Golda Meir School) across from the Schlitz Brewing Complex from 1906 to 1912. When she began school, she did not know English, but she graduated as valedictorian of her class.

In 1975, Meir was awarded the Israel Prize for her special contribution to the nation of Israel. In December 1978, she Golda Meir died of cancer in Jerusalem.

KJ