Meir Ya'ari

Meir Ya'ari was born in 1897 in Kańczuga

Meir Ya'ari was born Meyer Wald in 1897 in Kańczuga, Galicia, to a family of rabbinic scholars. He grew up in Rzeszów, where he joined the Tze'irei Zion youth movement. During World War I his family moved to Vienna.

He volunteered for the Austrian Army and served as an officer until the war ended. In Vienna he studied agriculture and attended the University of Vienna. In 1919 he helped lead the Vienna branch of Hashomer Hatzair.

In 1920 he immigrated to Palestine and paved roads with the Labour Battalion. He helped found Bitania, the first commune of Hashomer Hatzair, and the Histadrut. From 1924 he was secretary of world Hashomer Hatzair, and in 1927 he founded Kibbutz Artzi.

In 1929 he helped found Kibbutz Merhavia, his home for the rest of his life. In 1948 he co-founded Mapam and served as its general secretary for many years. He led the party with Yaakov Hazan, and both chose not to become ministers.

He sought to join Zionism and Marxism and supported the Soviet Union while criticizing its view of Zionism. He sat in the Knesset from the first to the seventh terms. He died in 1987.