Emanuel "Manes" Pratt ( he, עמנואל "מנס" פרת) (3 June 1911 – 8 March 1987) was an Israeli scientist who was the founder and first head of the Dimona Nuclear Research Center, a key role in recognition of which he received the

Israel Defense Prize The Israel Defense Prize (Hebrew: פרס בטחון ישראל), also known as the Israel Defense Award is an award presented annually by the President of Israel to people and organizations who made significant contributions to the defense of the ...

in 1965.

Biography

Pratt was born in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. In 1936, he migrated to British Mandate of Palestine. Soon after, he joined the

Haganah Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he joined the Jewish Brigade's engineering division. In 1944, he became certified as a

structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of safety, technical, economic ...

. After the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

(IDF) was founded, he was made deputy chief ordnance officer. In 1950, he resigned from the military, but returned a few months later, in 1951, as chief ordnance officer, in order to spearhead the emerging Ordnance Corps. This involved unifying multiple disparate entities. He maintained that role until 1954, when the IDF's new Ordnance Corps was officially formed. After this, he was appointed as the

military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, until 1957, when he resigned from the IDF. At this point, he was recruited by

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

to found and lead the Dimona nuclear reactor. In 1976, he became the Ministry of Defense chief scientist. Pratt is known as the "father" of the Israeli nuclear programme.

Eitan Haber Eitan Haber ( he, איתן הבר; 12 March 1940 – 7 October 2020) was an Israeli journalist and publicist, known for his writing on military and security issues, and for his longtime association with the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabi ...

, ''

Yedioth Ahronoth ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' ( he, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, ; lit. ''Latest News'') is a national daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Founded in 1939 in British Mandatory Palestine, ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' is the largest paid n ...

'', 10 August 2008.

References

1911 births 1987 deaths Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent 20th-century Israeli military personnel Military attachés Israel Defense Prize recipients {{Israel-scientist-stub