Ephraim Katzir

(1916 - )

 

Ephraim Katzir (Katchalski) was born in 1916 in Kiev, Russia, and arrived in Palestine at the age of nine.

He was assistant in the Hebrew University's department for theoretical and macromolecular chemistry from 1941 to 1945. From 1949 he was acting head and then head of the department of biophysics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. From 1966 to 1968 he was chief scientist of the Israel Defense Ministry.

Katchalski's field of research was proteins, and under his leadership the department he headed at the Weizmann Institute became one of the leading centers for the investigation of proteins and protein–like materials. Another area of research was the creation of a synthetic fiber for internal surgery that can be dissolved by body enzymes.

Adopting the name Katzir, he served as Israel's fourth President, from 1973 to 1978.

Courtesy of:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/katzir.html