Ephraim Katzir

Ephraim Katzir (born May 16 1916) is an Israeli biophysicist and Israeli Labour Party politician. He served as the President of Israel for a five-year term, from 1973 until 1978.

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Katzir was born in Kiev, Ukraine with the name Ephraim Katchalsky. He changed his last name to the Hebrew name Katzir in 1973, after being elected President by the Knesset. Katzir was at Harvard University when Golda Meir contacted him about being the President of Israel. In 1925 he immigrated with his family to Palestine. He studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he received a Ph.D. degree. After studying abroad, he returned to Israel and became head of the Department of Biophysics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. In 1966 he became Chief Scientist of the Israel Defense Forces. His brother Aharon, an internationally renowned chemical physicist, was murdered in 1972 during the Lod Airport Massacre.

In 1977, Ephraim Katzir was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society. In 1985, he was awarded the Japan Prize.