Abba Hushi
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Abba Hushi (1898–March 24, 1969; Hebrew אבא חושי) was an Israeli politician, and the mayor of Haifa between 1951 and 1969.
Hushi was born in 1898 in Turka, Galicia (today in Ukraine) as Abba Schneller to a Jewish family. Abba was one of the founders and activists of Hashomer Hatzair movement in Poland.
In July 1920, he came to the British Mandate of Palestine as part of a group of 130 "pioneers". In Palestine, he adopted a new Hebrew surname חושי (Hushi), created by translating his original name Schneller (The German Schnell and Hebrew חוש both mean hurry up). Hushi worked in road construction and swamp draining and was one of founders of Kibbutz Beit Alpha. He also participated in the Founding Convention of the Histadrut.
In 1927, he moved to Haifa and became a member of Achdut HaAvoda political party and afterwards a member of Mapai, and a central figure in both. He was the Secretary of the Haifa Workers Council between 1931-1951.
In the State of Israel, Abba Hushi was a member of the Knesset between 1949 and 1951, when he resigned to become mayor of Haifa. As mayor, he founded the University of Haifa, the Haifa Theatre, the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, and the Carmelit (Haifa's subway). He served as a mayor of Haifa between 1951 and 1969. He died in March 24 1969.
The absorption centre in Haifa for students is named Abba Hushi after him.
Abba Hushi is the father-in-law of another member of the Knesset - Amnon Linn.
[edit] Publications
- Tzadok Eshel's "Abba Hushi - Man of Haifa".
- Abba Hushi, “In the House of the Workers of Israel” (1943) (Heb)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Abba Hushi's page on the Knesset's sitehe:אבא חושי<span class="FA" id="he" style="display:none;" />
