Avraham Arnon (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: אברהם ארנון; born 1887, died 24 May 1960) was an Israeli educator and a recipient of the Israel Prize.

Biography

Avraham Arnon was born in Cherykaw in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

). His family later moved to the city of

Polotsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Dist ...

, where he received his primary education. In 1909, he was accepted by the High School for Trade and Economics in Kiev. After graduating in 1914, he travelled to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to continue his pedagogic studies. Arnon then

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

Mandate Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

, becoming one of the first academic teachers in the country.

Pedagogic career

For 17 years he taught

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

and mathematics at schools in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and was headmaster of Edler-von-Lämel-Schule ( he, בֵּית סֵפֶר לְהָאָצִיל לְבֵית לֶמֶל‎, Beit Sefer lə- ha-Atzil lə- Veit Lämel) in

Zikhron Moshe Zikhron Moshe ( he, זיכרון משה, lit. ''Memorial for Moses'') is a Haredi neighborhood in central Jerusalem. The neighborhood is bordered by Geula to the north, Mekor Baruch to the west, David Yellin Street to the south, and Mea Shearim to ...

neighborhood from 1920 to 1930. During this period, he also became active in the Teachers' Union and was elected chairman of its central committee. He was appointed as a school inspector in 1930. After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, he was appointed head inspector of the state school system and later deputy director of the Ministry of Education and Culture under minister

Zalman Shazar Zalman Shazar ( he, זלמן שז"ר; born Shneur Zalman Rubashov; be, Шнэер За́льман Рубашо́ў; russian: Шне́ер За́лмен Рубашо́в; November 24, 1889 – October 5, 1974) was an Israeli politician, author ...

. Until his retirement, he continued to serve in various key public positions in the sphere of state education, including Chief General Inspector from 1954 to 1955.

Awards and recognition

* In 1960, Arnon was awarded the Israel Prize, in education, shortly before his death. * The "Arnon" School in

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and man ...

and Tel Aviv is named after him.

References

1887 births 1960 deaths People from Cherykaw People from Cherikovsky Uyezd Belarusian Jews Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews from Mandatory Palestine Israeli Jews Israel Prize in education recipients Israeli schoolteachers Jewish educators Geography teachers Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery {{Israel-bio-stub

Biography

Pedagogic career

Awards and recognition

See also

References