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Aura Herzog

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Aura Herzog
Portrait of Aura Herzog
First Lady of Israel
In role
5 May 1983 – 13 May 1993
PresidentChaim Herzog
Preceded byOfira Navon
Succeeded byReuma Weizman
Personal details
Born(1924-12-24)24 December 1924
Ismailia, Egypt
Died10 January 2022(2022-01-10) (aged 97)
Resting placeMount Herzl, Jerusalem
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1947; died 1997)​
Children4, including Isaac

Aura Herzog (Hebrew: אורה הרצוג) (née Ambache, 24 December 1924 – 10 January 2022) was an Israeli social and environmental activist, who served as the First Lady of Israel from 1983 to 1993;[1] she was the wife of Chaim Herzog, the sixth President of the State of Israel and mother of the current president, Isaac Herzog.[1] In 1968, she founded the Council for a Beautiful Israel.[2]

Biography

Early life and work

Aura Ambache was born in Ismailia, Egypt, on 24 December 1924, to an Ashkenazi Jewish family of Russian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent. Her parents were Leah Steinberg (daughter of Yechiel Michal Steinberg, the founding family of Motza, a village on the outskirts of Jerusalem), and Simcha Ambache (Hebrew acronym for ani ma'amin b'emunah shleima - I believe in complete faith), an engineer by profession. Aura's sister Suzy married Israeli diplomat Abba Eban.[2]

The family was originally from Jaffa, but relocated to Egypt after they were expelled by the Turks during World War I. Herzog attended French schools in Ismailia and Cairo and completed her BA in mathematics and physics at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.[2]

In October 1946, Herzog immigrated to Mandatory Palestine. The following year, she was chosen to participate in the first class of the Diplomatic School established by the Jewish Agency. She was a member of the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary organization in the British Mandate of Palestine (1921–48). In 1947 she married Chaim Herzog. The couple had four children: Yoel, an attorney and former Brigadier General, Michael, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Isaac, the current President of Israel, and Ronit, a clinical psychologist.[3]

On 11 March 1948, she was seriously injured in a bombing attack on the Jewish Agency building in the National Institutions House in Jerusalem. During the War of Independence she served as an intelligence officer in the newly founded Science Corps and intelligence department Number 2 (Unit 8200).

Diplomatic career and public service

From 1950 to 1954, she accompanied her husband to the United States, where he was sent as a military attache, and again from 1975 to 1978, when he served as ambassador to the United Nations.

In 1958, Herzog headed the committee that organized Israel's 10th anniversary celebrations and initiated the first International Bible Contest, which takes place annually on Israel Independence Day.

From 1959 to 1968, she headed the Department of Culture in the Ministry of Education and Culture and was a member of the Council for Arts and Culture. In 1969, she founded the Council for a Beautiful Israel, a leading environmental protection NGO and chaired it for 38 years, after which she became its international president.

After the end of her husband's presidency and her own tenure as first lady, she held various positions: Chairperson of the Public Committee for the celebration of Israel's Jubilee celebration (1998), Member of the Public Advisory Board of Mifal Hapayis (Israel's national lottery), Member of the Board of Governors of the Tel Aviv Museum, and Chairperson of Friends of Schneider association at Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel.

President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal paying respects at the President's Residence ahead of the funeral of Aura Herzog

Later life

Aura Herzog died on 10 January 2022, at the age of 97. She is buried alongside her husband and a number of other Israeli leaders in Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl national cemetery.[4] In his eulogy, her son President Isaac Herzog paid tribute to her as “an extremely loving mother for all of us, a source of strength, an engine with incredible energies.”[5]

Published works

In 1971, she published "Secrets of Hospitality," a manual on hospitality, manners and customs.

References

  1. ^ a b "Former first lady of Israel Aura Herzog dies at 97". i24NEWS. 10 January 2022. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Cashman, Greer Fay (25 April 2012). "All in the Family". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  3. ^ Assembly, California Legislature (10 January 1975). "Journal of the Assembly, Legislature of the State of California" – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "President Isaac Herzog's mother, Aura, dies at 97". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  5. ^ News, Israel National (12 January 2022). "Former First Lady Aura Herzog laid to rest". Israel National News. Retrieved 18 August 2022. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
Honorary titles
Preceded by First Lady of Israel
1983–1993 		Succeeded by
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