Yehoshua Alouf

Yehoshua Alouf was born in 1900 in Slonim

Yehoshua Alouf was born Yehoshua Volpianski in 1900 in Slonim. His parents sent him to the Land of Israel in 1912, where he studied at the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium. In 1914 he went back to visit his parents, was caught in Europe by World War I, and finished school at the Reali School in Warsaw.

In Warsaw he combined Zionist activity with sport and joined Maccabi. He settled in the Land of Israel in 1920 and worked in construction. He married Hinda Neeman in 1924.

For 15 years he taught physical education at the Herzliya Gymnasium and at the Hebrew Teachers Seminary in Jerusalem. He trained in Denmark in 1925, then served as chief coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv and later Maccabi Jerusalem. He organized the Maccabiah Games of 1932, 1935, 1950 and 1953 and helped found the sports federation and the Olympic committee of the Land of Israel.

From 1938 to 1954 he was chief inspector of physical education in schools, and he later headed the Education Ministry's physical training department. He received the Israel Prize in 1974. He lived in Ramat Gan and died in 1980.