Aaron Aaronsohn () (21 May 1876 – 15 May 1919) was a Romanian-born Ottoman

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

, who lived most of his life in

Ottoman Syria Ottoman Syria () is a historiographical term used to describe the group of divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of the Levant, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Ara ...

. Aaronsohn was the discoverer of emmer ('' Triticum dicoccoides''), believed to be "the mother of

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

."Molecular Genetic Maps in Wild Emmer Wheat
/ref> He founded and was head of the NILI espionage network.

Biography

Aaron Aaronsohn was born in Bacău, Romania, and brought to

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, then part of the Turkish

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, at the age of six. His parents were among the founders of

Zikhron Ya'akov Zikhron Ya'akov () often shortened to just Zikhron, is a local council (Israel), town in northern Israel, south of the city of Haifa, and part of the Haifa District. It is located at the southern end of the Mount Carmel, Carmel mountain range over ...

, one of the pioneer Jewish agricultural settlements of the

First Aliyah The First Aliyah (), also known as the agriculture Aliyah, was a major wave of Jewish immigration (''aliyah'') to History of Israel#Ottoman period , Ottoman Palestine (region) , Palestine between 1881 and 1903. Jews who migrated in this wave cam ...

. He had two sisters,

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...

and Rivka,Spy, agronomist, entrepreneur: The Israeli Legacy of Aaron Aaronsohn

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

and a brother,

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

. Aaronsohn was the first car-owner in Palestine and one of the first to own a bicycle, which he brought back from France. The languages Aaronsohn spoke at home were

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

, but he also knew English, Arabic, Turkish, French, German, and some Italian.

Agriculture and botany

After studying agriculture in France, sponsored by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Aaronsohn worked in Metulla, then a new colony in the north of the country. He left Metulla to establish an organization for agricultural technology. Together with a member of the German Templer community he launched a business for importing and selling agricultural machines such as reapers, harrows and combine harvesters using modern marketing methods. Another company he established sold gasoline-operated pumps, a centrifuge for separating cream and making butter, and fertilizers. He also imported different varieties of seeds and vines. He botanically mapped Palestine and its surroundings and became a leading expert on the subject. On his 1906 field trip to

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( / ALA-LC: ('Mountain of the Sheikh', ), , ) is a mountain, mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the Lebanon–Syria border, border between Syria and Lebanon a ...

, while trekking around the Upper Galilee in the area of Rashaya in what is now

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, he discovered ''Triticum dicoccoides'', whom he considered to be the "mother of wheat", an important find for agronomists and historians of human civilization. Geneticists have proven that wild emmer is indeed an ancestor of most domesticated wheat strands cultivated on a large scale today with the exception of einkorn, a different ancient species, which is currently just a

relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

crop. This discovery made Aaronsohn world-famous and, on a trip to the United States, he was able to secure financial backing for a research station established in

Atlit Atlit or Athlit may refer to: Places * Atlit, an historical fortified town in Israel, also known as Château Pèlerin * Atlit (modern town), a nearby town in Israel Media *Athlit (album), ''Athlit'' (album), an ambient music album by Oöphoi *Atli ...

in 1909. Aaronsohn built up a large collection of geological and botanical samples and established a library. Aaronsohn served as a scientific consultant to Djemal Pasha during a crop-destroying

desert locust The desert locust (''Schistocerca gregaria'') is a species of locust, a periodically swarming, short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae. They are found primarily in the deserts and dry areas of northern and eastern Africa, Arabia, and ...

invasion in 1915.Lawrence and Aaronsohn: T. E. Lawrence, Aaron Aaronsohn, and the Seeds of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Ronald Florence
In March–October of that year, the locusts stripped the country of almost all vegetation. Aaronsohn and the team fighting the locust invasion was given permission to move around the area known as Southern Syria (including modern day Israel) and made detailed maps of the areas they surveyed. Aaronsohn also collected strategic information about Ottoman camps and troop deployment. In 1918, Aaronsohn was one of the experts consulted for the purpose of demarcating the northern boundary of Palestine, focusing on the need for irrigation water. He envisaged a boundary that would assure the inclusion of the sources of the Jordan, Litani and Yarmuk rivers. His approach became the official Zionist baseline presented to the Peace Conference in Paris in February 1919.

Political activity and espionage

During World War I, the Ottomans had joined sides with the Germans, and Aaronsohn feared the Jews would suffer the same fate as the Armenians under the Turks. Together with his assistant

Avshalom Feinberg Avshalom Feinberg (, 23 October 1889 – 20 January 1917) was one of the leaders of Nili, a Jewish spy network in Ottoman Palestine, Palestine that helped the United Kingdom, British fight the Ottoman Empire during World War I. He was killed duri ...

, his sister Sarah Aaronsohn and a few others, Aaronsohn organized

Nili NILI () was a Jewish espionage network which assisted the United Kingdom in its fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem between 1915 and 1917, during World War I. NILI was centered in Zikhron Ya'akov, with branches ...

, a ring of Jewish residents of Palestine who spied for Britain during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He recommended the plan of attack through Beersheba that General

Edmund Allenby Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army Officer (armed forces), officer and imperial governor. He fought in the Second Boer ...

ultimately used to take Jerusalem in December 1917 as part of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Owing to information supplied by Nili to the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

concerning the locations of oases in the desert, General Allenby was able to mount a surprise attack on

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

, bypassing strong Ottoman defenses in Gaza. In 1917,

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( ; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization and later as the first pre ...

sent Aaronsohn on a political campaign to the USA. While there, Aaronsohn learned that the Ottoman authorities had intercepted a Nili carrier pigeon, which led to the arrest and torture of his sister Sarah and other members of the underground.

Death and legacy

After the war, Weizmann called on Aaronsohn to work on the Versailles Peace Conference. On 15 May 1919, under unclear circumstances, Aaronsohn was killed in an airplane crash over the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

while on his way to France. Some blamed the British government. Aaronsohn died a bachelor and had no children. His research on

and Transjordan

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

, as well as part of his exploration diaries, were published posthumously. After Aaronsohn's death, the director of British Military Intelligence confirmed that Allenby's victory would not have been possible without the information supplied by the Aaronsohn group.Aaronsohn: Encyclopedia.com
/ref>

Published works

* ''Agricultural and botanical explorations in Palestine'', 1910 * "Shemot ha-tzemachim" ("Botanical names"), in: ''Hashelaḥ'' 26 (1912) * ''Reliquiae Aaronsohnianae'', 1940

References

External links

''Aaron Aharonson (1876-1919)''
on the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Aaronsohn, Aaron 20th-century agronomists 19th-century agronomists 1876 births 1919 deaths 19th-century Romanian Jews Ashkenazi Jews from Ottoman Palestine Botanists with author abbreviations Immigrants to Ottoman Palestine Jewish activists Jewish biologists Jewish scientists Romanian activists Romanian agronomists Romanian botanists Romanian emigrants Natural history of Israel Natural history of Palestine (region) People from Bacău People from Zikhron Ya'akov Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in international waters Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1919 World War I spies for the United Kingdom Immigrants of the First Aliyah