Zina Harman

Zina Harman was born in 1914 in London

Zina Harman was born Zina Stern in London in 1914. She studied economics and international relations at the London School of Economics. Her meeting with Avraham Harman, whom she later married, and the rise of the Nazis changed her views toward Zionism.

After finishing her studies in 1935 she worked in marketing at Unilever, and later took a job helping Jewish refugees. She married Avraham Harman in South Africa in January 1940, and the couple moved to the Land of Israel that year. In Jerusalem she did social work and from 1943 to 1949 worked in Youth Aliyah, including as assistant to Henrietta Szold.

She served in Israel's delegation to the United Nations until 1955 and then represented Israel at UNICEF. As chairman of the UNICEF executive board she accepted the 1965 Nobel Peace Prize on its behalf. She later held posts in the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and headed the National Centre for Demography.

In 1969 she was elected to the Knesset on the Alignment list and served one term, sitting on the Education Committee. Afterward she founded and chaired the Jerusalem Council for the Welfare of Children and served for 25 years as Israel representative of the UN refugee commission. She had three children, including Naomi Chazan, and died in 2013.