Golda Meir
Political Figure
Name at birth: Golda Mabovitz
Golda Meir was Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of Israel, one of the most visible women in international affairs from the 1950s to the 1970s. Born in Russia and raised in the United States, she settled in British Mandate Palestine with her husband (Morris Meyerson) in 1921. Meir (her adopted name) became active in Zionist politics, and after Israel's independence she served as the ambassador to the Soviet Union (1948), was elected to the Knesset (1949) and served as Foreign Minister (1956-65). After the death of Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, Meir became Prime Minister in 1969. Her attempts to garner peace for Israel were criticized after the Arab-Israeli War of 1973 (the Yom Kippur War), and she resigned in 1974, succeeded by Yitzhak Rabin.
Extra credit: Meir was played by Ingrid Bergman in the 1982 TV movie A Woman Called Golda... In the stage play, Golda, she was portrayed by Anne Bancroft.
Other Israeli prime ministers include Ariel Sharon, Ehud Barak, Benjamin Netanyahu and Menachem Begin.
Four Good Links
Golda Meir
Brief career wrap-up
Golda Meir's American Roots
Brief biographical background
Golda Meir Collection
University of Wisconsin library catalog that includes a career summary
For the Attainment of Peace
Speech by Meir from 1970
Vital Stats
Birth
Birthplace
Death
December 1978
(age 80)
Best Known As
Prime Minister of Israel, 1969-74
