Emanuel Zisman

Emanuel Zisman was born in 1935 in Plovdiv

Zisman was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, to Alexander and Gisela. On 10 March 1943 he, his mother and his sister were rounded up with the city's Jews for deportation, but Tsar Boris III canceled the order after public pressure. He emigrated to Israel in 1949.

He served in the IDF and then studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he was active in the student union. He held posts in Ahdut HaAvoda and in labor unions, and in 1975 became a regional manager at the Hasneh insurance company.

He sat on the Jerusalem city council for 24 years and chaired the One Jerusalem faction led by Teddy Kollek. He was elected to the Knesset in 1988 on the Alignment list and reelected in 1992, chairing the immigration committee. In 1996 he and Avigdor Kahalani left Labor and founded the Third Way, and he later chaired the Education Committee.

In 1999 he left the Third Way and lost his seat that year. From 2000 to 2002 he was ambassador to Bulgaria, and he later chaired the Israel-Bulgaria friendship association. He died on 11 November 2009 and was buried at Har HaMenuchot.