Selig Soskin (; 1873 – 26 February 1959) was an Israeli

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 ...

and an early member of the

Zionist movement Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the Jewish people, pursued through the colonization of Palestine, a region roughly co ...

Biography

Soskin was born in 1873 in

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. He was active in the Zionist movement while in Russia, and immigrated to

Ottoman Palestine The region of Palestine (region), Palestine is part of the wider region of the Levant, which represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia.Steiner & Killebrew, p9: "The general limits ..., as defined here, begin at the Plain of ' ...

in 1896, after studying

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He was one of the founders of the settlement of

Be'er Tuvia Be'er Tuvia (, ''Be'er Toviya'', "Tuvia's Well") is a moshav in the Southern District of Israel. Located near the city of Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Be'er Tuvia Regional Council. In its population was . History In 1887, ...

(until then known as

Qastina Qastina () was a Palestinian village, located 38 kilometers northeast of Gaza City. It was ethnically cleansed during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Location Qastina was situated on an elevated spot in a generally flat area on the coastal plain, on ...

, after the neighboring

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

village of the same name), and worked on the planting of

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

to drain the swamps of

Hadera Hadera (, ) is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel, in the northern Sharon plain, Sharon region, approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along 7 km (5 mi) of ...

In 1898, Soskin accompanied

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of Types of Zionism, modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organizat ...

during his visit to Palestine, and subsequently assisted in research to examine the possibilities for agriculture in different regions in the country. In 1903, he participated in the

Sixth Zionist Congress The Sixth Zionist Congress was held in Basel, opening on August 23, 1903. Theodor Herzl caused great division amongst the delegates when he presented the "Uganda Scheme", a proposed Jewish colony in what is now part of Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. ...

, where he was elected to the Committee for the Study of Eretz Israel, along with Otto Warburg and

Franz Oppenheimer Franz Oppenheimer (March 30, 1864 – September 30, 1943) was a German sociologist and political economist, who published also in the area of the fundamental sociology of the State (polity), state. Life and career Franz Oppenheimer was born int ...

. In connection with the works of the committee, he was part of a delegation to

El Arish ʻArish or el-ʻArīsh ( ' ) is the capital and largest city of the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt, as well as the largest city on the Sinai Peninsula, lying on the Mediterranean coast northeast of Cairo and west of the Egypt–Gaza border ...

, in the northern Sinai, to investigate the area at the request of Herzl. Part of his agricultural research was conducted in collaboration with

Aaron Aaronsohn Aaron Aaronsohn () (21 May 1876 – 15 May 1919) was a Romanian-born Ottoman agronomist, botanist, and political activist, who lived most of his life in Ottoman Syria. Aaronsohn was the discoverer of emmer ('' Triticum dicoccoides''), b ...

, with whom he became friends while in

Zichron Yaacov 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 ...

in the early part of the twentieth century. In 1918, he was appointed Director of Settlement on the

Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...

(the "JNF") and, following a tour of Europe, began to examine the implementation of an agricultural model. The model included intensive agriculture on small plots of land. He tried to implement this model in the

Binyamina Binyamina-Giv'at Ada () is a town in the Haifa District in northern Israel. It is the result of the 2003 merger between the two local councils of Binyamina and Giv'at Ada. In 2019 its population was 17,371. Before the merger, the population of ...

district, and it saw success with the founding of

Nahariya Nahariya () is the northernmost coastal city in Israel. As of , the city had a population of . The city was founded in 1935 by Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. Etymology Nahariya takes its name from the stream of Ga'aton River, Ga'aton (riv ...

in 1934. He also championed the use of

hydroponics Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of #Passive sub-irrigation, hydroculture which involves growing plants, usually crops or medicinal plants, without soil, by using water-based mineral Plant nutrition, nutrient Solution (chemi ...

- the growth of plants on water; in 1944, he proposed a plan to feed liberated Europe with hydroponic vegetables. He became a supporter of

Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky (born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky; 17 October 1880 – 3 August 1940) was a Russian-born author, poet, orator, soldier, and founder of the Revisionist Zionist movement and the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in O ...

and of the Revisionist movement.

Awards and honours

* In 1958, Soskin 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 ...

, in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. * A street in Nahariya is named after him.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soskin, Selig 1873 births 1959 deaths People from Taurida Governorate Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire Jews from Ottoman Palestine Israeli Jews Israel Prize in agriculture recipients Jewish scientists Jews from Mandatory Palestine People from Nahariya People from Be'er Tuvia Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century Israeli agronomists Crimean Jews

Biography

Awards and honours

See also

References

External links