Akiva Govrin (; 12 August 1902 – 26 June 1980) was an Israeli politician who served as a government minister between December 1963 and January 1966, and was the country's first
Minister of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture.
The position exists in many different countries under several names:
* Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania)
* Mini ...
.
Biography
Born in the
Podolia region of the
Russian Empire (today in
Ukraine), Govrin was one of the founders of the
HeHalutz movement in Ukraine. He made
aliyah
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
to
Mandatory Palestine in 1922, and worked at
Haifa Port and as a construction worker in
Jerusalem, where he was one of the founders of the Jerusalem Workers' Council.
In 1925 he became a member of the actions committee of the
Histadrut
Histadrut, or the General Organization of Workers in Israel, originally ( he, ההסתדרות הכללית של העובדים בארץ ישראל, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center ...
, and headed its unions department between 1943 and 1949. In 1949 he was elected to the
Knesset on
Mapai's list and was appointed chairman of the
Labor committee. He was re-elected in 1951, 1955, 1959 and 1961. On 1 December 1963 he was appointed
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...
, and when
Levi Eshkol formed a new government in December 1964, Govrin became the country's first Minister of Tourism.
Although he retained his seat in the
1965 elections, he was left out of the new cabinet. He lost his seat in the
1969 elections.
His niece
Michal Govrin is an accomplished
novelist and
theater director.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Govrin, Akiva
1902 births
1980 deaths
Alignment (Israel) politicians
20th-century Israeli Jews
Israeli Labor Party politicians
Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Jewish Israeli politicians
Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Mapai politicians
Members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951)
Members of the 2nd Knesset (1951–1955)
Members of the 3rd Knesset (1955–1959)
Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961)
Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965)
Members of the 6th Knesset (1965–1969)
Ministers of Tourism of Israel
Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine
Soviet Jews
Ukrainian Jews