Yosef Aluf Avidar (7 May 1906 – 13 September 1995) was an Israeli statesman,

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 ...

commander, author and ambassador to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Early life

Avidar was born on 7 May 1906 as Yosef Rochel in

Kremenets Kremenets ( uk, Крем'янець, Кременець, translit. ''Kremianets'', ''Kremenets''; pl, Krzemieniec; yi, קרעמעניץ, Kremenits) is a city in Ternopil Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center o ...

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. ...

and in what is now modern-day

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. His father was Joshua Rochel; his mother, Shprinza. Avidar was a

peddler A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a chapman, packman, cheapjack, hawker, higler, huckster, (coster)monger, colporteur or solicitor, is a door-to-door and/or travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used fo ...

during his time in Ukraine. In 1929 Avidar immigrated to

Mandatory 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 ...

Career

Avidar became a senior commander in a Jewish paramilitary organization called the

. Placed in control of the supply programs, he was responsible for the idea and of constructing an underground ammunition factory called the Ayalon Institute, which was a major supplier of arms to the Haganah. In 1948, after the creation of 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 ...

, he changed his name from Rochel to Avidar based on an acronym of his two daughters' names. Avidar was the Israeli

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...

during the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

and later served as the

' deputy chief of staff. Avidar served as ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1955 to 1958 and as ambassador to Argentina from 1961 to 1965.

Death

Avidar died on 13 September 1995 at the age of 89 from a

lung infection Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is a term often used as a synonym for pneumonia but can also be applied to other types of infection including lung abscess and acute bronchitis. Symptoms include shortness of breath, weakness, fever, co ...

Personal life

Avidar lost his right hand when he was learning how to use

grenades A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade gene ...

, and was given the nickname "the amputee". He was sent to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

for treatment where he met the future Israeli children's book author and later wife

Yemima Avidar-Tchernovitz Yemima Avidar-Tchernovitz ( he, ימימה אבידר-טשרנוביץ; October 8, 1909 – March 20, 1998) was an Israeli author whose works became classics of modern Hebrew children's literature. Born in Vilna, Lithuania, in 1909, she arrived i ...

, who at the time was studying at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

. He received a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

Russian studies Russian studies is an interdisciplinary field crossing politics, history, culture, economics, and languages of Russia and its neighborhood, often grouped under Soviet and Communist studies. Russian studies should not be confused with the study of ...

from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Works

* ''BaDerekh l’Tsahal'', 1971 *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Avidar, Yosef 1906 births 1995 deaths Haganah members People from Kremenets Israeli amputees 20th-century Israeli politicians Ukrainian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Respiratory disease deaths in Israel Infectious disease deaths in Israel Deaths from respiratory tract infection Israeli people of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Ambassadors of Israel to the Soviet Union Ambassadors of Israel to Argentina Quartermasters