Berl Locker ( he, ברל לוקר; born 27 April 1887, died 1 February 1972) was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician.

Biography

Born in Kriwiec in Austria-Hungary, Locker was educated at a Jewish school. In 1902 he began contributing to the ''Der Yidisher Arbeiter'' newspaper, which he later became editor of.Berl Locker
Jewish Agency for Israel In 1904 he signed up to study law at Chernivtsi University, and in the same year established the Flowers of Zion student union. The following year he joined Poale Zion, and became a member of its central committee in Austria-Hungary. In 1916 he became secretary of the movement's The Hague office, and later served the same role in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. He represented Poale Zion at conferences for socialist parties, and between 1918 and 1928 served as secretary of the Poale Zion World Union. From 1928 until 1931 he served as Poale Zion's secretary in the United States. In 1931 he moved to London and became a member of the Jewish Agency board, on which he served until 1935. He also worked as a political advisor to the organisation. Between 1948 and 1956 he was chairman of the Agency's board of directors. In

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

he was elected to the Knesset on the Mapai list, but served only a single term. Locker was married to the

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

poet

Malka Locker Malka Locker (1887–1990; ) was a Ukrainian-born Israeli poet, writing primarily in Yiddish. Biography Malka Locker was born in 1887 in Kuty, known in Yiddish as Kitev, a town in what was then the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, now Ukrai ...

. He died in 1972 at the age of 84.

Awards

* In 1968, Locker received the Yakir Yerushalayim (Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) award from the city of Jerusalem. City of Jerusalem official website

References

External links

* * The personal papers of Berl Locker are kept at the
Central Zionist Archives
in Jerusalem. The notation of the record group is A263. {{DEFAULTSORT:Locker, Berl 1887 births 1972 deaths Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Chernivtsi University alumni Poale Zion politicians Polish emigrants to Israel Mapai politicians Jewish Agency for Israel Heads of the Jewish Agency for Israel Burials at Mount Herzl Members of the 3rd Knesset (1955–1959)