Politicsמאיר ארגוב

Meir Argov

Meir Argov was a Zionist activist and Mapai politician who signed Israel's Declaration of Independence and served in the Knesset from 1949 to 1963.

1905 to 1963Signing the Declaration of IndependenceChairing the Foreign Affairs and Defense CommitteeZionist activism in the Soviet Union

Died: 24 November 1963, Jerusalem
Occupation: politician, diplomat
Party: Mapai
Education: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Wars: World War II

Meir Argov was born in 1905 in Rybnitsa

Meir Argov was born Meyer Grabovsky in 1905 in Rybnitsa, in the Russian Empire. He studied at a heder and at Kiev University. As a young man he led the HeHalutz movement in Ukraine and sat on the central committee of Tzeiri Zion.

He was arrested in the Soviet Union for his Zionist work and was expelled in 1924. In 1927 he immigrated to the Land of Israel and worked as a farm laborer. In 1928 he married Tzipora Lohovitzky, and they had a daughter.

From 1929 to 1939 he was secretary of the Petah Tikva Workers Council. He joined the Jewish National Council in 1930 and the Petah Tikva municipal council in 1931. He later volunteered for the British Army and fought with the Jewish Brigade in Italy.

In 1948 he signed the Declaration of Independence and joined the Provisional State Council for Mapai. He entered the first Knesset in 1949 and chaired the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee from 1951. In November 1951 he was named secretary general of Mapai.

Argov died suddenly of a heart attack on 24 November 1963 while still a Knesset member. He was buried in Segula Cemetery in Petah Tikva.