Eli Ilan

Eli Ilan was born in 1928 in Winnipeg

Eli Ilan was born in Winnipeg, Canada, as Alan Shulbaum. When he learned he could not enter medical school in Winnipeg, he moved to Vancouver and began premedical studies at the University of British Columbia. He left his studies to join young Zionists training on a farm in Ontario.

In 1948 he sailed on the Marine Carp, which reached Beirut on May 14, 1948, and its passengers bound for Israel were held for 3 months. He reached Israel through Italy and fought in the War of Independence. In 1949 he was among the founders of Kibbutz Sasa, where he studied prehistoric archaeology as an external student and built the kibbutz archaeological collection.

He left the kibbutz in 1956 and joined the Israel Police forensic identification unit. The police sent him to study in Canada, where he also studied art in Toronto. After returning in 1959, he compared photographs of Adolf Eichmann and concluded the man in Buenos Aires was almost certainly Eichmann, which sped up his capture.

In 1963 he left the police with the rank of Superintendent to focus on sculpture. He taught sculpture in 1965 and later built a home and studio in Old Jaffa. After the Six-Day War he exhibited in Israel and abroad, and his works were placed in many countries.

In 1980 he bought a house and studio in Caesarea. He died there of a heart attack in 1982 and was buried in Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv.