Alexander Peli

Alexander Peli was born in 1915 in Kyiv

Alexander Peli was born in Kyiv in 1915 to Meir and Bracha. When he was six, his family moved to the Land of Israel by way of Cairo and settled in Tel Aviv. His sister Sarah was born there.

He attended the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium and studied history and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He grew up around encyclopedias, since his mother published one. His goal was to create a full encyclopedia in Hebrew.

In 1944 an advisory committee was formed to set the aims of the Encyclopaedia Hebraica, and printing of the first volume began in 1948. Chaim Weizmann was its honorary president, Joseph Klausner its editor, and Peli its director. After Klausner died, Peli named Benzion Netanyahu chief editor, and the work was completed in 1980.

After his mother died in 1986, he ran part of her Massada publishing house, but the business declined. The rights to the encyclopedia were sold to Schocken in 1997, and Peli stayed on as a consultant. He died in Jerusalem in 2007 and was buried in the Sanhedria cemetery.