Ephraim Katzir

Ephraim Katzir, original name Ephraim Katchalski    (born May 16, 1916, Kiev, Ukraine, Russian Empire [now in Ukraine]—died May 30, 2009, Reḥovot, Israel), Russian-born scientist and politician who was the fourth president of Israel (1973–78).

Katzir moved with his family to Palestine when he was nine years old. After graduating from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he became an assistant in the university’s department of theoretical and macromolecular chemistry (1941–45). During this period he was also a research fellow at Columbia University in the United States and was active in the preindependence Jewish underground army, Haganah, to which he became scientific ... (100 of 281 words)