Gershon Agron

Gershon Agron (1894–1959) was an Israeli newspaper editor and mayor of West Jerusalem 1955–1959.

Gershon Agron
Mayor of Jerusalem
In office 1955–1959
Preceded by	Yitzhak Kariv
Succeeded by	Mordechai Ish-Shalom
Personal details
Born	27 December 1894 Chernihiv, Russian Empire
Died	1 November 1959 (aged 64) Jerusalem, Israel
Political party	Mapai
Spouse(s)	Atal Lifshitz
Relatives	Martin Agronsky (nephew) Jonathan Agronsky (great-nephew)

Biography

Gershon Agron (originally Agronsky) was born in Ukraine and immigrated with his family to the United States at age five. He grew up in Philadelphia[1] and attended Gratz College. During World War I, he fought with the Jewish Legion in Palestine. From 1920 to 1921, he worked for the Press Office of the Zionist Commission. Until his immigration to Palestine in 1924, he worked as the editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and correspondent for several international press agencies, including The Times of London and the Manchester Guardian. In 1932, Agron founded The Palestine Post, an English-language newspaper that was renamed The Jerusalem Post in 1950.[2] Among the paper's earliest reporters was Agron's nephew, Martin Agronsky, later a famous American television journalist.

On various occasions, Agron served as envoy of the World Zionist Organization. He was a member of the Jewish Agency delegation to the UN conference in San Francisco. In 1949–1951, Agron headed Israel's Government Information Service. In 1955, he was elected mayor of West Jerusalem. He remained in office until his death in 1959. During his term, he played a key role in the development of the western sectors of the city.[2]

Commemoration

Agron Street in downtown Jerusalem[3] and Beit Agron (headquarters of the Israeli Press Association) are named after him.[4]

References

1. Matthew Silver (28 December 2006). "A founding father". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 17 January 2015. Excerpted from Matthew Silver (2006). First Contact: Origins of the American-Israeli Connection. The Graduate Group.
2. "Gershon Agron". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
3. Stuart Schoffman (1 October 2009). "Streets of the Westerners". JUF News. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
4. Israel Goldstein (1984). My World as a Jew: The Memoirs of Israel Goldstein, Volume 2. Associated University Presses. p. 109. ISBN 9780845347805. Retrieved 17 January 2015.

Further reading

• The personal papers of Gershon Agron are kept at the Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem
• Stephen Klaidman, 'The Jerusalem Post [and the story of Gershon Agronsky (Agron)]', Present Tense 6, 3 (1979), 36–42.