Politicsיוסף שפרינצק

Joseph Sprinzak

Joseph Sprinzak was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician who served as the first Speaker of the Knesset, from 1949 until his death in 1959.

1885 to 1959First Speaker of the KnessetCo-founding the Histadrut and MapaiActing President of Israel, 1951-1952

Born: 8 December 1885, Moscow
Died: 28 January 1959, Jerusalem
Occupation: politician, trade unionist
Party: Mapai, The Young Worker
Founded: Laam (1908)

Joseph Sprinzak was born in 1885 in Moscow

Sprinzak was born in Moscow in 1885. After Jews were expelled from Moscow in 1891, his family moved to Kishinev. There he was active in Zionist groups and in 1905 was among the founders of Tze'irei Zion.

In 1908 he began studying medicine at the American University in Beirut, but he left his studies. He settled in the Land of Israel in 1910 to serve as secretary of Hapoel Hatzair.

After World War I he headed the Hapoel Hatzair party. He was a founder of the Histadrut in 1920 and of Mapai in 1930, and served as secretary general of the Histadrut from 1945 to 1949. He also sat on the Zionist Executive in Jerusalem.

In July 1948 he was elected speaker of the Provisional State Council. In 1949 he entered the first Knesset for Mapai and was chosen as its Speaker, a post he held through the first 3 Knessets. He served as acting President during Chaim Weizmann's illness and after his death, until Yitzhak Ben-Zvi took office in December 1952.

He died in January 1959 and was buried on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. He was married to Hanna, and they had 3 sons and a daughter. Streets, neighborhoods such as Kiryat Sprinzak in Haifa, and a 1986 postage stamp honor his memory.