Michael Bruno

Michael Bruno was born in 1932 in Hamburg

Bruno was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1932. His mother was a pianist and music teacher, and his father was a physician. The family moved to the Land of Israel in 1933.

He finished the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa in 1950 and served in the Nahal. He began studying physics and mathematics at the Hebrew University in 1952, then earned degrees in mathematics and economics at King's College, Cambridge. He later received a doctorate from Stanford for a book on the Israeli economy.

In 1957 he joined the research department of the Bank of Israel and later headed it. He then joined the faculty of the Hebrew University, became an associate professor in 1967, and worked as a visiting professor at MIT. He advised Finance Minister Yehoshua Rabinovitz in 1975 and 1976.

He was one of the planners of Israel's 1985 economic stabilization plan. He served as governor of the Bank of Israel from 1986 to 1991 and became Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank in 1993. He was also active in Peace Now.

Bruno had three children with his wife Ofra Hanoch and later married Netta Ben-Porath. He died of cancer at his home in Jerusalem in 1996.