Jenia Tversky (, 16 August 1904 – 9 April 1964) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

for

Mapai Mapai ( he, מַפָּא"י, an acronym for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', lit. "Workers' Party of the Land of Israel") was a democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger i ...

Biography

Born Genia Gintsburg (russian: Геня Гинцбург) in 1904 in

Baranovichi Baranavichy ( ; be, Бара́навічы, Łacinka: , ; russian: Бара́новичи; yi, באַראַנאָוויטש; pl, Baranowicze) is a city in the Brest Region of western Belarus, with a population (as of 2019) of 179,000. It is n ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

(now in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

), Tversky studied at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

and at a Social Work school in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. In 1923, she made

aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally descri ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

, where she became a pioneer of social services. Between 1932 and 1942 she served as director of the Jewish community's social services in Haifa, before working as head of the Social Services Department of the Neighbourhood Committee of Jerusalem between 1942 and 1948. She was also a member of the Executive 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 ...

trade union, and was sent to the Holocaust survivors' camps as an emissary in 1945. A member of

, she was 53rd on the party's list for the 1949 Knesset elections, but missed out on a seat when the party won 46 seats. However, she entered the Knesset on 5 February 1951 as a replacement for

Heshel Frumkin Heshel Frumkin (; 1896 –11 April 1974) was an Israeli economist and politician. Biography Born in Babruysk in the Russian Empire (today in Belarus), Frumkin was educated in a heder and yeshiva, and was a member of Tzeiri Zion and HeH ...

. She was placed 37th on the Mapai list for the July 1951 elections, retaining her seat as the party won 45 seats. After being placed 49th on the party's list for the 1955 elections, she lost her seat when Mapai won only 40 seats. However, she returned to the Knesset on 6 July 1959 as a replacement for

Shlomo Hillel Shlomo Hillel ( he, שלמה הלל, 23 April 1923 – 8 February 2021) was an Iraqi-born Israeli diplomat and politician who served as Speaker of the Knesset, Minister of Police, Minister of Internal Affairs, and ambassador to several countri ...

. Placed 47th on the Mapai list for the November 1959 elections, she was re-elected as Mapai won 47 seats. She moved up to 46th place on the party list for the 1961 elections, but left the Knesset as the party won only 42 seats. However, she re-entered the Knesset again on 24 November 1963 after the death of

Meir Argov Meir Argov ( he, מאיר ארגוב, 1905 – 24 November 1963) was a Zionist activist, Israeli politician and a signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence. Biography Born Meyer Grabovsky in Rîbnița in the Russian Empire (today in T ...

.Knesset Members in the Fifth Knesset
Knesset website She died on 6 April the following year, and was replaced by

Aharon Yadlin Aharon Yadlin (; 17 April 1926 – 12 August 2022) was an Israeli educator and politician. Biography Aharon Yadlin was born in Tel Aviv and grew up in moshav Ben Shemen and Rehovot during the Mandate era. He was active in the local scouting ...

. She married a Polish Jew, Josef Tversky - a veterinarian. Her son was the psychologist

Amos Tversky Amos Nathan Tversky ( he, עמוס טברסקי; March 16, 1937 – June 2, 1996) was an Israeli cognitive and mathematical psychologist and a key figure in the discovery of systematic human cognitive bias and handling of risk. Much of his ...

(1937–1996), co-author (with

Daniel Kahneman Daniel Kahneman (; he, דניאל כהנמן; born March 5, 1934) is an Israeli-American psychologist and economist notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making, as well as behavioral economics, for which he was awarde ...

) of

prospect theory Prospect theory is a theory of behavioral economics and behavioral finance that was developed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky in 1979. The theory was cited in the decision to award Kahneman the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. Base ...

.A Psychologist Who Shed Light on Our Irrationality Is Born
Haaretz, 16 March 2016

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tversky, Jenia 1904 births 1964 deaths People from Baranavichy People from Novogrudsky Uyezd Belarusian Jews Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent 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) Women members of the Knesset 20th-century Israeli women politicians Israeli civil servants Israeli women civil servants Israeli trade unionists University of Warsaw alumni Israeli Ashkenazi Jews