Levi, Shabbetai

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LEVI, SHABBETAI

LEVI, SHABBETAI (1876–1956), mayor of Haifa. Born in Constantinople, he settled in Ereẓ Israel in 1894. There he first taught at Petaḥ Tikvah and later became one of the Baron de *Rothschild's officials in *pica. He assisted land reclamation projects throughout the country, including Transjordan, and attempted to establish good relations between the Jewish colonies and neighboring Arab villages. Levi represented the yishuv and the inhabitants of Haifa in dealings with the authorities during World War i. A founder of the first Hebrew school in Haifa and of the city's Reali school and *Technion, he was also instrumental in the development of Mount Carmel and the suburbs in Haifa Bay. From 1919 he was a councilor on the mixed Arab-Jewish Haifa Municipality; in 1934 he became deputy mayor of Haifa and in 1940 became the first Jewish mayor of the city, a post he held until 1951.

bibliography:

Tidhar, 2 (1947), 901–2.

[Abraham Aharoni]