Nachum Shamir

Nachum Shamir was born in 1917 in Kraków

Nachum Shamir was born in Kraków, Poland, to a Zionist Jewish family. He studied at a Hebrew gymnasium and was active in a Zionist youth movement. In 1934 the family moved to Tel Aviv, where he worked in construction, citrus groves and car mechanics.

He led a group in the Akiva movement and later joined the Haganah. In 1944 he helped found Kibbutz Neve Eitan in the Beit She'an Valley. In 1948 he served in the Golani Brigade and fought at Nazareth and Safed.

From late 1948 he led immigration work in Italy for the Mossad LeAliyah Bet. He later served as treasurer of the Jewish Agency immigration department in Paris and headed the Defense Ministry mission in the United States and Canada. From 1955 to 1963 he ran the reparations company and helped start Israel Shipyards.

He also headed the national oil company and the Hasneh insurance company, and served as economic envoy in the United States and Canada. In 1968 he became director of Beit Berl, where he initiated the academic college, and he founded the Orna Porat Theater with Orna Porat. In 1977 he became consul general in Chicago.

After retiring in 1981 he began carving wood sculptures and exhibited in New York and Ramat Gan. He was married to Malka, and they had 3 children. He died in Tel Aviv in 1995.