Politicsזלמן ארן

Zalman Aran

Zalman Aran was a Zionist activist, educator and Israeli politician who served as Minister of Education and Culture from 1955 to 1960 and from 1963 to 1969.

1899 to 1970Israel's minister of educationExpanding compulsory educationSchool integration reformMapai and Histadrut leadership

Born: 1 March 1899, Donetsk
Died: 6 September 1970, Jerusalem
Occupation: politician, pedagogue, trade unionist, production manager
Party: Israeli Labor Party
Founded: Israel Association of Community Centers (1969)

Zalman Aran was born in 1899 in Donetsk

Zalman Aran was born Zalman Aharonowitz in Yuzovka in the Russian Empire, today Donetsk in Ukraine. His father raised him in a strict religious home, and he studied in a heder and later in several yeshivas. In 1905 he witnessed a pogrom in his town.

He moved away from religious life and studied science and agriculture in Kharkov, where he joined the Tze'irei Zion movement in 1916. From 1918 to 1923 he worked as a teacher and statistician. After joining the Zionist Socialists, he was arrested twice in 1922 and expelled from his studies.

In 1926 he immigrated to the Land of Israel, worked in construction and joined Ahdut HaAvoda. After the founding of Mapai in 1930 he joined its leadership. From 1936 to 1947 he served on the Histadrut Executive Committee as treasurer and head of its information department.

He was elected to the first Knesset in 1949 and chaired the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. He served as minister without portfolio and minister of transportation before becoming minister of education. He expanded compulsory education, promoted technical education and the integration of children from different backgrounds in schools.

He retired from political life in 1969 and died in 1970. A school at Tel Aviv University, the central library of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and several schools bear his name.