Golda Meir was the fourth elected Prime Minister of Israel. She was the third woman in history to become a Prime Minister, and the first to do so without a prior family government connection.
Meir served as Minister of Labour and Foreign Minster before becoming the party leader of Alignment, a predecessor to the modern Labor party.
One of the best known female Jewish leaders in history, Mier was born in Kiev, Ukraine (I have been by her first house) in 1898. Meir left the Ukraine to settle in the United States in 1906. She graduated as valedictorian of her class. At 14 she rebelled against her parents and hopped a train to my hometown, Denver, Colorado. There she met her husband to be, whom she married at 19. Mier moved to a Kibbutz in the British Mandate of Palestine in 1921 with her husband and sister.
She made her way up in politics in Israel, and was selected to travel to an event hosted by US President Franklin Roosevelt to discuss the future of a Jewish State in 1938. She became head of the Jewish Agency political department leading up to Israel’s statehood.
On May 14th, 1948, Golda Mier was one of 24 signers of the Declaration of Independence of Israel.
Mier was elected to succeed Levi Eshkol as Prime Minister after his sudden death in 1969. Mier worked to make peace and build relations with countries all around the world.
She is best known for her involvement in the aftermath of the attack at the Munich Olympics, known as Operation Wrath of God, and her leadership during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
She resigned as party chair and Prime Minister in April, 1974. Mier lived the rest of her life in Israel and passed away in 1978 in Jerusalem at the age of 80. She was called a bubbe of the Jewish people.
She has many namesakes around the world. These include the Golda Mier House and Golda Mier Center for Political Leadership at Metro State College in Denver, the Golda Mier School in Milwaukee, Golda Mier Square in New York, and many streets and buildings around Israel.
She is buried on Mount Herzel in Jerusalem.
This post is part of a series called Prime Ministers in History. The series covers the lives and influence of those who have held Israel’s highest office.
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