Berligne, Eliyahu Meir
BERLIGNE, ELIYAHU MEIR
BERLIGNE, ELIYAHU MEIR (1866–1959), yishuv leader and a founder of Tel Aviv. Berligne was born in Mogilev, Russia. He was a delegate to several Zionist congresses and at the Fifth Congress in 1901 joined the Zionist *Democratic Fraction under the leadership of Chaim *Weizmann. In 1907 Berligne settled in Ereẓ Israel, where he established industrial plants producing olive oil and soap. He was one of the founders of Tel Aviv, served on its first administrative committee, of which he was appointed chairman in 1909, and was made an honorary citizen of the city in 1946. Berligne was a member of the board of Herzliah High School in Tel Aviv. In 1919 he was a member of the yishuv delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. He was active in the Provisional Council of Palestinian Jewry (Ha-Va'ad ha-Zemanni), was a member of the Va'ad Le'ummi from 1920 to 1948, also serving as its treasurer, and was a signatory of Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948. He was a member of the General Zionists ("A" Group) which later (1949) became the Progressive Party.
bibliography:
Tidhar, 4 (1950), 1736–38; M. Attias (ed.), Sefer ha-Te'udot shel ha-Va'ad ha-Le'ummi (1963), index; A. Druyanow (ed.), Sefer Tel Aviv (1936).
[Benjamin Jaffe]