Chaim Lebanon

Chaim Lebanon was born in 1899 in Kraków

Levanon was born in Kraków in 1899 as Chaim Yosef Levinstein. He received a traditional education and studied at a yeshiva. He later studied agricultural engineering at the university in Kraków.

He moved to the Land of Israel in 1927 and taught at the Ehad HaAm gymnasium in Petah Tikva. He was one of the founders of the General Zionists youth movement and later one of its leaders. He also founded the Civilian Housing company and helped found the newspaper HaBoker.

He joined Tel Aviv's city council and became deputy mayor. In 1953, after Israel Rokach became a minister, the council elected Levanon mayor, and he was re-elected in 1955. In 1959 Mordechai Namir replaced him, and he stayed on the council until 1961.

Levanon initiated and founded Tel Aviv University. He died in 1986, and the street where the university stands was named after him.