Raya Bronstein

Raya Bronstein was born in 1929 in Weimar Republic

Raya Bronstein was born in Berlin in 1929. Her family owned a bookstore and the Kedem publishing house. In 1938 the family left Nazi Germany for Eretz Israel and settled in Tel Aviv, where she studied at Tel Nordau school and Balfour Gymnasium.

In March 1948 she joined the Palmach and trained as a sports instructor. She was chosen for the 1948 London Olympics, but Israel was not allowed to take part. In 1950 she finished the third course for gymnastics teachers.

She played basketball for Hapoel Tel Aviv from age 13 and later for Hapoel Haifa. In 1950 she played on Israel's first women's national basketball team and won 2 gold medals at the third Maccabiah. In 1952 she won 2 gold medals at the Israeli championship, in javelin and shot put.

She taught athletics for 13 years at the Wingate Institute and physical education at Ironi D high school. In 1963 Hapoel sent her to Chad to organize its independence celebrations, and later to Dakar to help with the opening of the African Games. She retired from teaching in 1993 and died in 2023.