Politicsריקרדו וולף

Ricardo Wolf

Ricardo Wolf was a German-born inventor, diplomat and philanthropist who served as Cuba's ambassador to Israel and founded the Wolf Foundation.

1887 to 1981Founding the Wolf FoundationCuba's envoy to IsraelIron recovery process invention

Occupation: diplomat, inventor, philanthropist, chemist
Party: Social Democratic Party of Germany
Founded: Wolf Foundation (1975)

Ricardo Wolf was born in 1887 in Hanover

Ricardo Wolf was born Richard Wolf in Hanover, Germany, in 1887. He was one of 14 children of Moritz Wolf, a figure in the city's Jewish community.

Before the First World War he moved to Cuba. In 1924 he married Francisca Subirana, a tennis champion. With his brother Sigfried he developed a process for recovering iron from smelting residue, which was used in steel plants around the world and made him wealthy.

Wolf supported Fidel Castro with money from the start of the Cuban revolution. Castro offered him the post of finance minister, but Wolf declined and asked instead to serve in Israel. He was Cuba's envoy to Israel until 1973, when Cuba cut ties with Israel.

After leaving his post he stayed in Israel and lived in Herzliya. In 1975 he founded the Wolf Foundation, which awards the Wolf Prize to scientists and artists. He died at his home in Herzliya in 1981.