Zeev Vilnay (; 12 June 1900 – 21 January 1988) was an Israeli

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

, author and lecturer.

Biography

Zev Vilnay was born as Volf Vilensky in Kishinev,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now in

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

). He

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

with his parents at the age of six and grew up in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. He served as a military

topographer Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scienc ...

in the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

, and later in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

.''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', "Zev Vilnay," Keter Publishing, Jerusalem, 1972, vol. 16, p. 151 Vilnay and his wife Esther lived in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. Their eldest son, Oren Vilnay, is an expert in

structural engineering Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and joints' that create the form and shape of human-made Structure#Load-bearing, structures. Structural engineers also ...

who established the Department of Civil Engineering at

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public university, public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli List of national founders, national founder David Ben-Gurion, the unive ...

. The other son,

Matan Vilnai Matan Vilnai (; born 20 May 1944) is an Israeli politician and a former major general in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). A former Knesset member and government minister, he was appointed ambassador to China in 2012. Since 2017 Vilnai serves as ...

, was a General in the

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

, who later became a politician who served as a member of the Knesset and held several ministerial portfolios before becoming ambassador to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

during 2012-2017.

Land of Israel studies

Vilnay was a pioneer in the sphere of outdoor hiking and touring in Israel. Vilnay lectured widely on Israeli geography, ethnography, history and folklore. His ''Guide to Israel'' was published in 27 editions and translated into many languages. In his 1950 book ''The Hike and Its Educational Value,'' Vilnai traced the Jewish emphasis on walking the Land of Israel back to the Bible. He describes a continuous historical thread that passes through the Jewish sources, and quotes the Talmudic dictum that anyone who walks three or four cubits through Erez Yisra'el merits a place in the world to come (Ketubot 111a). In the 1974 edition of his guide, Vilnay describes how he helped bring back to Israel the boat of a British naval officer,

Thomas Howard Molyneux Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, who sailed the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

from the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...

to the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

to map the region in the 19th century. Vilnay was a member of the first place-naming committee established by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

in 1950. In 2021
Chair for the study of the knowledge of Land of Israel
(‘Yediath Ha’Aretz’) and its archaeology, named after Zev Vilnay, was founded in the Department of the Land of Israel Studies at th
Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee
The Chair serves as a framework for the advancement of academic studies which deals with the history of the research of these subjects. In addition, the Chair will distribute the research carried out in the field and make it accessible to the non-academic Land of Israel lovers in the general public.

Awards and recognition

* In 1974, Vilnay received the

Yakir Yerushalayim Yakir Yerushalayim (; ) is an annual citizenship prize in Jerusalem, inaugurated in 1967. The prize is awarded annually by the municipality of the City of Jerusalem to one or more residents of the city who have contributed to the cultural an ...

(Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) award. City of Jerusalem official website * In 1981, he was the co-recipient (jointly with

Avraham Even-Shoshan Avraham Even-Shoshan ( né Rozenshteyn; 25 December 1906 – 8 August 1984) was a Belarusian-born Israeli Hebrew linguist and lexicographer, compiler of the Even-Shoshan dictionary, one of the foremost dictionaries of the Hebrew language. Biogra ...

) of the

Bialik Prize The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate p ...

for Jewish thought. * In 1982, he was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

, for knowledge and love of the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

Published works in English

*''Legends of Palestine'' (1932) *''The Guide to Israel'' (first published in 1955) *''The Holy Land in Old Prints and Maps'' (1965) *''The New Israel Atlas: Bible to Present Day'' (1968) *''The Changing Face of Acco'' *''Legends of Jerusalem'' (3 volumes) *''Legends of Galilee, Jordan & Sinai'' (1978)Legends of Galilee, Jordan & Sinai
/ref> *''Legends of Judea and Samaria'' *''The Vilnay Guide to Israel: A new Millennium Edition'' (2 volumes) (1999), written and edited after his death and according to his instructions by Oren and Rachel Vilnay

Published works in Hebrew

*''Entziklopediya Liyidiat Haaretz'' (3 volumes) (1956) *''Yerushalayim'' (2 volumes) (1960–62, 1970) *''Eretz Yisrael Betmunot Atikot'' (1961) *''Matzevot Kodesh Be'eretz Yisrael'' (1963) *''Tel Aviv-Jaffa'' (1965) *''Yehudah Veshomron'' (1968) *''Sinai, Avar Vehoveh'' (1969) *''Golan Vehermon'' (1970) *''Ariel – Entziklopediya Lidiyat HaAretz'' (10 volumes) (1976–82)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilnay, Zev 1900 births 1988 deaths People from Haifa People from Kishinyovsky Uyezd Moldovan Jews Bessarabian Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire 20th-century Israeli Jews Israeli geographers Israel Prize in geography recipients Historical geographers 20th-century geographers Immigrants to Ottoman Palestine Immigrants of the Second Aliyah Bialik Prize recipients