Avraham Granot was a Zionist

Zionism

Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...

 activist, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i politician and a signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence.

Biography

Granot was born in Făleşti

Făleşti

Făleşti is a city and the administrative center of Făleşti District, Moldova. The geographical coordinates are 47° 34' 25" North, 27° 42' 33" EastThe population of Făleşti, Moldova is 17,800 according January 2011 est.-External links:...

, Bessarabia

Bessarabia

Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....

 in the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 (today Moldova

Moldova

Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

). He attended Gymnasia Herzliya in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

. In 1911, he traveled to Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 to study law and political economy at the University of Fribourg

University of Fribourg

The University of Fribourg is a university in the city of Fribourg, Switzerland.The roots of the University can be traced back to 1582, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg. In 1763, an Academy of law was founded by the state of Frobourg...

 and University of Lausanne

University of Lausanne

The University of Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of theology, before being made a university in 1890. Today about 12,000 students and 2200 researchers study and work at the university...

, graduating with a PhD in 1917.

Political career

In 1919 he began working for the Jewish National Fund

Jewish National Fund

The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...

 in The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

, and was relocated to Jerusalem in 1922. Two years later he officially immigrated

Aliyah

Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...

 to Mandate Palestine. He also lectured at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...

 on agrarian policy. In 1940 he was appointed director-general of the JNF.

Granot was a member of the New Aliyah Party

New Aliyah Party

The New Aliyah Party was a political party in Mandate Palestine and Israel.The party was established in 1942 by immigrants from Austria and Germany who had arrived in Palestine during the Fifth Aliyah. In the fourth Assembly of Representatives formed in 1944, the party had 18 seats , making it the...

 and one of the signers of the Israeli declaration of independence in 1948. In 1949, he was elected to the first Knesset

Israeli legislative election, 1949

Elections for the Constituent Assembly were held in newly independent Israel on 25 January 1949. Voter turnout was 86.9%. Two days after its first meeting on 14 February 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the Knesset...

 as a member of the Progressive Party

Progressive Party (Israel)

The Progressive Party was a political party in Israel.-History:The Progressive Party was a liberal party, most of whose founders came from the ranks of the New Aliyah Party and HaOved HaTzioni, which had been active prior to independence...

 (the successor of the New Aliyah Party). He was re-elected in 1951

Israeli legislative election, 1951

Elections for the second Knesset were held in Israel on 30 July 1951. Voter turnout was 75.1%.-Results:¹ Rostam Bastuni, Avraham Berman and Moshe Sneh left Mapam and set up the Left Faction. Bastuni later returned to Mapam whilst Berman and Sneh joined Maki. Hannah Lamdan and David Livschitz left...

, but resigned from the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

 six weeks after the election. He was head of several public corporations, and sat on the Board of Governors of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...

 and the Weizmann Institute of Science

Weizmann Institute of Science

The Weizmann Institute of Science , known as Machon Weizmann, is a university and research institute in Rehovot, Israel. It differs from other Israeli universities in that it offers only graduate and post-graduate studies in the sciences....

.

In 1960, Granot was elected chairman of the JNF Board of Directors.

Commemoration

Neve Granot

Neve Granot

Neve Granot is a neighborhood in Jerusalem, Israel, located behind the Israel Museum, overlooking the Monastery of the Cross.Neve Granot is named for Avraham Granot, a Zionist activist and signatory of the Israeli Declaration of Independence who went on to become head of the Jewish National Fund...

, a neighborhood in Jerusalem near the Israel Museum

Israel Museum

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem was founded in 1965 as Israel's national museum. It is situated on a hill in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the Bible Lands Museum, the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....

 is named for him. The main street is Avraham Granot Street.

Books in English

• Land Problems in Palestine (1926)
• Land Taxation in Palestine (1927)
• Land and the Jewish Reconstruction in Palestine (1931)
• The Fiscal System in Palestine (1952)
• Agrarian Reform and the Record of Israel (1956)

External links