Selig Soskin ( he, זליג סוסקין, 1873–26 February 1959) was an Israeli

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

and an early member of the

Zionist movement Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...

Biography

Soskin was born in 1873 in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, then part of 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. ...

. He was active in the Zionist movement while in Russia, and immigrated to

Ottoman Palestine Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south ...

in 1896, after studying agronomy in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He was one of the founders of the settlement of

Be'er Tuvia Be'er Tuvia ( he, בְּאֵר טוֹבִיָּה, ''Be'er Toviya'', "Tuvia's Well") is a moshav in the Southern District of Israel. Located near the city of Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Be'er Tuvia Regional Council. In it ...

(until then known as Qastina, after the neighboring

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village of the same name), and worked on the planting of

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

to drain the swamps of

Hadera Hadera ( he, חֲדֵרָה ) is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel, in the northern Sharon region, approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along 7 km (5&nb ...

In 1898, Soskin accompanied

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern po ...

during his visit to Palestine, and subsequently assisted in research to examine the possibilities for agriculture in different regions in the country. In 1903, he participated in the

Sixth Zionist Congress The Sixth Zionist Congress was held in Basel, opening on August 23, 1903. Theodor Herzl caused great division amongst the delegates when he presented the " Uganda Scheme", a proposed Jewish colony in what is now part of Kenya. Herzl died the follo ...

, where he was elected to the Committee for the Study of Eretz Israel, along with Otto Warburg and

Franz Oppenheimer Franz Oppenheimer (March 30, 1864 – September 30, 1943) was a German Jewish sociologist and political economist, who published also in the area of the fundamental sociology of the state. Life and career After studying medicine in Freiburg and ...

. In connection with the works of the committee, he was part of a delegation to

El Arish ʻArish or el-ʻArīsh ( ar, العريش ' , ''Hrinokorura'') is the capital and largest city (with 164,830 inhabitants ) of the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt, as well as the largest city on the entire Sinai Peninsula, lying on the Medite ...

, in the northern Sinai, to investigate the area at the request of Herzl. Part of his agricultural research was conducted in collaboration with

Aaron Aaronsohn Aaron Aaronsohn ( he, אהרון אהרנסון) (21 May 1876 – 15 May 1919) was a Jewish agronomist, botanist, and Zionist activist, who was born in Romania and lived most of his life in the Land of Israel, then part of the Ottom ...

, with whom he became friends while in Zichron Yaacov in the early part of the twentieth century. In 1918, he was appointed Director of Settlement on the Jewish National Fund (the "JNF") and, following a tour of Europe, began to examine the implementation of an agricultural model. The model included intensive agriculture on small plots of land. He tried to implement this model in the

Binyamina Binyamina-Giv'at Ada ( he, בִּנְיָמִינָה-גִּבְעַת עָדָה) is a town in the Haifa District of Israel. It is the result of the 2003 merger between the two local councils of Binyamina and Giv'at Ada. In its population was . ...

district, and it saw success with the founding of Nahariya in 1934. He also championed the use of

hydroponics Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture which involves growing plants, usually crops or medicinal plants, without soil, by using water-based mineral nutrient solutions in aqueous solvents. Terrestrial or aquatic plant ...

- the growth of plants on water; in 1944, he proposed a plan to feed liberated Europe with hydroponic vegetables. He became a supporter of

Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...

and of the Revisionist movement.

Awards and honours

* In 1958, Soskin was awarded the Israel Prize, in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

. * A street in Nahariya is named after him.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soskin, Selig 1873 births 1959 deaths People from Taurida Governorate Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire Jews in Ottoman Palestine Israeli Jews Israel Prize in agriculture recipients Israeli agronomists Jewish scientists Jews in Mandatory Palestine People from Nahariya People from Be'er Tuvia Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century agronomists

Biography

Awards and honours

See also

References

External links