Chana Levin

Chana Levin was born in 1897 in Romny

Chana Levin was born on December 16, 1897, in Romny, in the Poltava province of Russia. She studied at a gymnasium in Russia and learned piano at the music conservatory in Odessa. On December 30, 1923, she immigrated to the Land of Israel with her parents, and the family settled in Hadera.

In 1924 she married Michael Levin, who later headed the Rishon LeZion council from 1936 to 1939. The couple had no children. In 1925 she began public work in WIZO, where she chaired its Rishon LeZion branch and its national board and helped new immigrants settle in the country.

In 1942 she joined the British Auxiliary Territorial Service and served in the Land of Israel and Egypt until 1945. After Israel was founded she joined the IDF, holding service book number 1 of the Women's Corps. She was released in 1950 as a major.

She served as mayor of Rishon LeZion from 1956 to 1960. She was the only woman elected to head a city in Israel until 1998. She died in March 1985, and a street in the city bears her name and her husband's.