Yitzhak Olshan ( he, יצחק אולשן, February 19, 1895 – February 5, 1983) was an Israeli jurist and the second President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1954 to 1965.

Biography

Olshan was born in Kaunas 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 Lithuania) in 1895 and

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 ...

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 1912. He joined the

Hagana 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 Is ...

and the

Jewish Legion The Jewish Legion (1917–1921) is an unofficial name used to refer to five battalions of Jewish volunteers, the 38th to 42nd (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers in the British Army, raised to fight against the Ottoman Empire during ...

. He studied law and oriental studies at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. As an attorney, he represented the

Yishuv Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the ...

before the

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

authorities. In 1948 he was appointed a Supreme Court of Israel judge. He headed a parliamentary commission to investigate the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) economy and the Central Elections Committee of the second

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

. In 1954 he was appointed by

Moshe Sharett Moshe Sharett ( he, משה שרת, born Moshe Chertok (Hebrew: )‎ 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was a Russian-born Israeli politician who served as Israel's second prime minister from 1954 to 1955. A member of Mapai, Sharett's term was b ...

head of the inquiry commission regarding the Lavon affair with President of the Technion and former IDF Chief of Staff,

Yaakov Dori Yaakov Dori (; October 8, 1899 – January 22, 1973), born Yaakov Dostrovsky, was the first Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He was also the President of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Biography Yaakov Dostr ...

. In 1954, he succeeded

Moshe Smoira Moshe Smoira ( he, משה זמורה, born 25 October 1888, died 8 October 1961) was an Israeli jurist and the first President of the Supreme Court of Israel. Biography Smoira was born in 1888 in Königsberg, in the German Empire to Leiser and ...

as President of the Supreme Court. He retired in 1965 and was succeeded by Shimon Agranat. He died in 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olshan, Yitzhak 1895 births Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Israel Lithuanian Jews 1983 deaths Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire Alumni of the University of London