PersonJewish Eligibility — Verified by JWR

Golda Meir

Israeli stateswoman who served as Israel's fourth prime minister from 1969 to 1974 after earlier service as labor minister and foreign minister.

Jerusalem, Israel

Marion S. Trikosko / U.S. News & World Report Collection / Library of CongressWikimedia CommonsPublic Domain

Biography

Golda Meir was born Golda Mabovitch in Kyiv on 3 May 1898 and immigrated with her family to the United States as a child. She became active in Labor Zionism in Milwaukee and immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1921. Meir rose through the Histadrut and Jewish Agency, signed Israel's Declaration of Independence, and served in the first governments of the state. She was labor minister and then foreign minister before returning to national leadership in 1969. On 17 March that year she became Israel's fourth prime minister, serving in that office from 1969 until 1974. She died in Jerusalem on 8 December 1978.

Public links

main.knesset.gov.il

Records held by Golda Meir

Golda Meir at a press conference in 1969

JWR Verified

People & LifeFirst

First Jewish Woman to Serve as Prime Minister of a Sovereign State

Record holder

Golda Meir

Record value

17 March 1969

On 17 March 1969, Golda Meir took office as the fourth prime minister of the State of Israel, following the death of Levi Eshkol. Her government formally began that day, giving JWR a precise legal and chronological measurement point. Meir had already served as labor minister, foreign minister and a senior leader of Israel's labor movement. Her appointment made her the earliest documented Jewish woman to hold the prime-ministerial office of a sovereign state. The category is deliberately limited to formal prime ministers, rather than the broader phrase “head of government,” so that colonial, acting, subnational and differently structured historical offices do not create ambiguous counter-candidates.

Country represented: Israel
Achievement location: Jerusalem, Israel
Achievement date: 17 March 1969

View full record