In honor of the 70th anniversary of the death of Chaim Weizmann, Israel's first president and one of the founders of Zionism, the Jewish National Fund has released rare photographs from his life, including some of the first-ever Knesset.
Prior to his political career, Weizmann was an eager Zionist activist. He took part in the Second Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland in 1898, in the presence of the father of Zionism - Theodor Herzl. In 1920, Weizmann was appointed as the fourth president of the World Zionist Organization.
He was born in Belarus in 1874, and even before developing an affinity for politics and Zionism, Weizmann fell in love with chemistry as a child.
When he was 18 he traveled to Germany to continue his studies in a department for Zionist Jews from Russia. At 24, he moved to Fribourg, Switzerland, and a year later he was already earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in chemistry.
By this point, he knew he had to split his time between his two passions - chemistry and Zionism.
In 1904, Weizmann married Vera née Chatzman, a medical student at the time. That same year, the couple moved to Great Britain, where Chaim worked as senior chemistry lecturer at the University of Manchester.
Weizmann's first visit to Eretz Israel occurred in 1907.
After receiving a citizenship in 1910, the couple lived in Britain until 1934, when they decided to move and settle down in Rehovot.
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David Ben Gurion congratulating Chaim Weizmann upon his arrival in Israel
(Photo: Shimon Rudolf "Rudi" Weissenstein)
Upon their arrival, Chaim, with the help of donations from the Ziv family, established "The Daniel Ziv Research Institute" in the city.
Several years later, in honor of his 75th birthday, the research institute was expanded and the Weizmann Institute of Science was inaugurated.
Weizmann, was elected to be the first president of the State of Israel in 1949.
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Chaim Weizmann and his wife in Jerusalem upon the establishment of the first Knesset
(Photo: David Rubinger)
On November 9th, 1952, Weizmann died and was buried in his yard in Rehovot, in alignment with the request of his will.
About a year before Weizmann's death, the Jewish National Fund planted a forest in his name called President's Forest.