Avraham Kalfon

Avraham Kalfon was born in 1900 in Tiberias

Kalfon was born in Tiberias on 16 December 1900, during the Ottoman era. His family were rabbis from Tetouan in Morocco who settled in Tiberias in the 19th century, and his grandfather was Rabbi Avraham Raphael Kalfon. As a baby he moved with his family to Haifa.

He studied at the Alliance school and the Reali School in Haifa, and learned French, Spanish, German, Yiddish and Arabic. At 16 he joined The Young Worker party. He helped found the Tehiya association to spread the Hebrew language.

From 1919 to 1923 he was secretary of the Jewish community of Haifa, and later sat on its committee. In 1924 he became head of the Organisation Department of the Histadrut's Executive Committee and ran a club for Arab workers. He helped found a trade high school in 1926 and chaired the Haifa Sephardi Committee from 1927 to 1983.

He entered the Knesset for Mapai in 1952, replacing Eliezer Kaplan after his death. After losing his seat in 1955 he taught at the Reali School. From 1958 to 1966 he represented the Interior Ministry in the Northern District.

He retired at the end of 1966 and from 1967 chaired the Beit HaGefen board in Haifa. He died on 4 July 1983.