Chaim Weizmann

Chaim Weizmann was was born in Russia in 1874 as one of 15 children of a timber merchant. He studied in Russia, Germany and obtained his doctorate from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. In 1901, he was appointed assistant lecturer at the University of Geneva and, in 1904, senior lecturer at the University of Manchester. He became a British citizen in 1910. He served as President of the World Zionist Organization (1920-1931) and head of the Jewish Agency (1929-1946). He came to Palestine in 1918, and later established the important educational institutions Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Weizmann Insititute. Weizmann Institute was originally founded in 1934 by Israel and Rebecca Sieff, as the Daniel Sieff Research Institute, in memory of their son, it was renamed the Weizmann Institute of Science, in November 1949. In 16 February, 1949 he became the first President of the State of Israel and remained in the post until his death on 9 November, 1952.