Lia van Leer (née Greenberg; ; August 8, 1924 – March 13, 2015) was a pioneer in the field of art film programming and film archiving in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. She was the founder of the

Haifa Cinematheque Haifa Cinematheque is a cinematheque located in Haifa at the Auditorium of Haifa in the Carmel Cente. History Haifa Cinematheque was established by Lia Van Leer in the early 1950s together with her husband Wim. Initially the Van Leers held cin ...

, the

Jerusalem Cinematheque The Jerusalem Cinematheque is a cinematheque and film archive in Jerusalem. History The Jerusalem Cinematheque was founded in 1973 by Lia van Leer. It was originally located in Beit Agron in the center of Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city i ...

, the Israel Film Archive and the

Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival (, ) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque and Israeli Film Archive, Lia van Leer, Lia Van Leer, and has since become th ...

Biography

Lia Greenberg was born on August 8, 1924, in the

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

n city of

Bălți Bălți () is a city in Moldova. It is the second-largest city in terms of population, area and economic importance, after Chișinău. The city holds the status of municipiu. Sometimes called "the northern capital", it is a major industrial, cu ...

, then in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, now in

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

, to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. Her father, Simon Greenberg, was a wheat exporter and her mother, Olga, was a

WIZO The Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO; ') is a volunteer organization dedicated to social welfare in all sectors of Israeli society, the advancement of the status of women, and Jewish education in Israel and the Diaspora. Histor ...

volunteer. She attended a public high school and spent summer holidays in the Carpathian mountains. In 1940, her parents sent her to Palestine to visit her sister Bruria, a dentist, who had immigrated in 1936 and was living in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. She never saw her parents again. In July 1941, the Germans murdered her father and other Jewish community leaders. Her mother and grandmother were deported to

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

and died in a concentration camp. Lia moved to Jerusalem in 1943 to attend the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. In 1952, she married Wim Van Leer, a Dutch engineer, pilot, playwright and film producer, and settled in Haifa. They founded the country's first film club in 1955. "There was no television back then ... and we had a 16 mm projector that had come as a gift from my father-in-law. Each Friday we would have friends over to watch movies. Our house became the most popular in Haifa", she recalled. This film club became the Haifa Cinematheque. The Van Leers' private collection of films was the basis for the Israeli Film Archive, founded in 1960. In 1973, a Brazilian businessman, George Ostrovsky, who dreamt of creating a cinematheque in Israel, approached the van Leers and persuaded them and Teddy Kollek to share his dream. Ostrovsky donated the necessary funds to build the Jerusalem Film Center (comprising the Israel Film Archives and the Jerusalem Cinematheque) in the Hinnom Valley below the Old City walls. Teddy Kollek and the Jerusalem Foundation mobilized more funding from friends in Hollywood and around the world. The Jerusalem Cinematheque opened in 1981, and Lia van Leer was named its first director. After the death of her husband in 1991, she inaugurated the Wim Van Leer Award for High School Students to encourage young filmmakers. In its first year, eight films were submitted; in 2008, 90 films contended for the prize. In 1995, she headed the jury at the 45th Berlin International Film Festival.

Awards

In 2004, Lia van Leer was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

for her lifetime achievement & special contribution to society and the State of Israel. She won a prize for her volunteer work from Israeli president

Chaim Herzog Chaim Herzog (; 17 September 1918 – 17 April 1997) was an Israeli politician, military officer, lawyer and author who served as the president of Israel between 1983 and 1993. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Dublin, the son of Ireland' ...

in 1988.

Death

Lia van Leer died on March 13, 2015, aged 90, from undisclosed causes.Obituary
deadline.com; accessed April 13, 2015.

References

' {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Leer, Lia 1924 births 2015 deaths People from Bălți Moldovan Jews Bessarabian Jews Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews from Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Moldovan-Jewish descent Ophir Award winners Israel Prize for lifetime achievement & special contribution to society recipients Israel Prize women recipients Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Distinction of Israel Jewish film people Burials at Har HaMenuchot

Biography

Awards

Death

See also

References