Peres, Shimon, 1923-2016

Source Citation

Shimon Peres (/ʃiːˌmoʊn ˈpɛrɛs, -ɛz/;[1][2][3] Hebrew: שמעון פרס‎ [ʃiˌmon ˈpeʁes] (About this soundlisten); born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the ninth President of Israel (2007–2014), the Prime Minister of Israel (twice), and the Interim Prime Minister, in the 1970s to the 1990s. He was a member of twelve cabinets and represented five political parties in a political career spanning 70 years.[4] Peres was elected to the Knesset in November 1959 and except for a three-month-long hiatus in early 2006, was in office continuously until he was elected President in 2007. At the time of his retirement in 2014, he was the world's oldest head of state and was considered the last link to Israel's founding generation.[5]

From a young age, he was renowned for his oratorical brilliance, and was chosen as a protégé by David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding father.[6] He began his political career in the late 1940s, holding several diplomatic and military positions during and directly after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. His first high-level government position was as Deputy Director-General of Defense in 1952 which he attained at the age of 28, and Director-General from 1953 until 1959.[7] In 1956, he took part in the historic negotiations on the Protocol of Sèvres[8] described by British Prime Minister Anthony Eden as the "highest form of statesmanship".[9] In 1963, he held negotiations with U.S. President John F. Kennedy, which resulted in the sale of Hawk anti-aircraft missiles to Israel, the first sale of U.S. military equipment to Israel.[10] Peres represented Mapai, Rafi, the Alignment, Labor and Kadima in the Knesset, and led Alignment and Labor.[11]

Peres first succeeded Yitzhak Rabin as Acting Prime Minister briefly during 1977, before becoming Prime Minister from 1984 to 1986. As Foreign Minister under Prime Minister Rabin, Peres engineered the 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty,[12] and won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize together with Rabin and Yasser Arafat for the Oslo Accords peace talks with the Palestinian leadership.[7] In 1996, he founded the Peres Center for Peace, which has the aim of "promot[ing] lasting peace and advancement in the Middle East by fostering tolerance, economic and technological development, cooperation and well-being."[13] After suffering a stroke, Peres died on 28 September 2016 near Tel Aviv.[14][15]

Peres was a polyglot, speaking Polish, French, English, Russian, Yiddish, and Hebrew, although he never lost his Polish accent when speaking in Hebrew.[16] In his private life, he was a poet and songwriter, writing stanzas during cabinet meetings, with some of his poems later being recorded as songs in albums.[17] As a result of his deep literary interests, he could quote from Hebrew prophets, French literature, and Chinese philosophy with equal ease.[16]

Wikipedia article for Shimon Peres, viewed June 23, 2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimon_Peres

Citations

Source Citation

Shimon Peres, original name Shimon Perski, (born August 16?, 1923, Wiszniew, Poland [now Vishnyeva, Belarus]; see Researcher’s Note—died September 28, 2016, Ramat Gan, Israel), Polish-born Israeli statesman, who served as both prime minister (1984–86 and 1995–96) and president (2007–14) of Israel and as leader of the Israel Labour Party (1977–92, 1995–97, and 2003–05). In 1993, in his role as Israeli foreign minister, Peres helped negotiate a peace accord with Yāsir ʿArafāt, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), for which they, along with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994.

It [Peres' birthdate] has been given as Aug. 16, 1923, by a number of official sources and biographers, but some uncertainty remains. The Office of the President of Israel and Michael Bar-Zohar’s authorized biography offer the Hebrew date of Av 20, 5683, which corresponds to Aug. 2, 1923, on the Gregorian calendar. Other sources—including an earlier authorized biography by Matti Golan—have given dates ranging from Aug. 1, 1923, to Aug. 21, 1923. Peres himself has not chosen to put the matter to rest, and public celebrations of his birthday have occurred on various dates in the month of August.

Encyclopedia Brittanica article on Shimon Peres, viewed June 23, 2020

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Shimon-Peres

Citations

Date: 1923-08-16 (Birth) - 2016-09-28 (Death)

BiogHist

Unknown Source

Citations

Name Entry: Peres, Shimon, 1923-2016

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "WorldCat", "form": "authorizedForm" }, { "contributor": "lc", "form": "authorizedForm" }, { "contributor": "yale", "form": "authorizedForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: بيريز، شيمون، 1923-2016

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "authorizedForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: بيريس، شمعون، 1923-2016

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "authorizedForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: פרס, שמעון 1923-2016

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "authorizedForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: Перес, Шимон 1923-2016

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "authorizedForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: Peres, Šimon, 1923-2016

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "authorizedForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest