Shmuel Mikunis (; 10 August 1903 – 20 May 1982) was an Israeli politician. He was a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

for the Maki (1949–1969, 1972–1973) and

Moked Moked () was a left-wing political party in Israel. Background Moked came into existence on 25 July 1973 during the seventh Knesset, when the Maki parliamentary group (which had one seat, held by Shmuel Mikunis) was renamed Moked, following i ...

(1973–1974) parties.

Biography

Born to a

Hasidic Jewish Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

family in

Polonne Polonne (, ) is a city on the Khomora River in Shepetivka Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. Polonne hosts the administration of Polonne urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The current estimated population is ...

in 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 ...

(today in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), Mikunis

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

in 1921. Two of his brothers remained in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and were murdered during

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's rule. He attended a polytechnic in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and was qualified as an engineer, working for the

Shell Oil Company Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States–based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is among the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...

between 1933 and 1945. Mikunis was a member of the

Palestine Communist Party The Palestine Communist Party (, ''Palestinische Komunistische Partei'', abbreviated PKP; ) was a political party in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate of Palestine formed in 1923 through the merger of the Palestinian Communist Party (192 ...

. He became secretary of its central committee in 1939. In 1944 he was elected to the

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

's Assembly of Representatives. During the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, he acted as an emissary to communist countries, seeking to acquire weapons. After Maki was established in 1948, Mikunis became its secretary and held this position until 1974. A member of the

Provisional State Council The Provisional State Council (, ''Moetzet HaMedina HaZmanit'') was the temporary legislature of Israel from shortly before independence until the election of the first Knesset in January 1949. It took the place of His Majesty's Privy Council, ...

, he was elected to the

first Knesset Constituent Assembly elections were held in newly independent Israel on 25 January 1949. Voter turnout was 86.9%. Two days after its first meeting on 14 February 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the Knesset (Hebrew: כ ...

on Maki's list. He was re-elected in 1951, 1955, 1961, and 1965. In the 1960s, he and

Moshe Sneh Moshe Sneh (; 6 January 1909 – 1 March 1972) was a Haganah commander and an Israeli politician. One of the founders of Mapam, he later joined the Israeli Communist Party (Maki). Biography Mosze Klaynboym (later Sneh) attended high scho ...

led a faction within Maki that sought to distance the party from the Soviet Union's anti-Israel stance. This faction defended the State of Israel's legitimacy and opposed the policies of neighboring Arab states toward Israel. In contrast, another faction, led by

Meir Vilner Meir Vilner (; born Ber Kovner; 23 October 1918 – 5 June 2003) was a Lithuanian-born Israeli communist politician and Jewish leader of the Communist Party of Israel (Maki), at one time a powerful force in the country. He was the youngest and ...

, adhered to the Soviet line. In 1965 the party finally split and the Mikunas-Sneh party was reduced to one seat in the parliamentary election due to the split (from which Rakah had been formed). Mikunis lost his seat in the 1969 elections, but re-entered the Knesset in March 1972 as a replacement for

. Towards the end of the session, Maki and the

Blue-Red Movement Siah (, an acronym for ''Smol Israeli Hadash'', (, "Israeli New Left")) was an Israeli left-wing group active between 1968 and 1973. Reuven Kaminer describes them as "the major force of the student left in the 1968–1973 period."Kaminer, Reuven (1 ...

merged into

and Mikunis lost his seat in the

1973 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1973. Africa * 1973 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1973 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1973 Ethiopian general election * 1973 Gabonese general election * 1973 Republic of the Congo con ...

. A street 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 ...

is named after him.

Bibliography

*''B'Saar Tkufot'' (1969)

References

External links

*
"The Peoples of Palestine Struggle for National Independence"
1948
"Israel"
(on the Suez crisis) 1957 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mikunis, Shmuel 1903 births 1982 deaths People from Volhynian Governorate Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Maki (historical political party) politicians Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) 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) Members of the 7th Knesset (1969–1974) Moked politicians Jewish Ukrainian politicians Jewish socialists Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Burials at South Cemetery in Israel Immigrants of the Third Aliyah