Prime Minister Meir signs a photo for the photographer

Golda Mabovitch Meir, 1898–1978.  4th Prime Minister of Israel, 1969–1974. 8” x 10” matte finish black-and-white photograph, inscribed and signed Golda Meir.

This is a photograph of Meir answering reporters’ questions on October 2, 1969, in Los Angeles.  Meir has inscribed and signed it to the photographer, Leo Wainschel, a Holocaust survivor, “In deep appreciation for work well done.” 

Meir was in the United States on an official 12-day visit.  She met with President Richard Nixon and senior American officials for two days in Washington before visiting New York City, Los Angeles, and Milwaukee, where she had grown up.  She spent three days in New York, delivering an emotional speech to about 3,600 Zionist youths at Madison Square Garden, before flying to Los Angeles for a two-day trip to California.  She was honored in Los Angeles, introduced by then-Governor Ronald Reagan at a banquet sponsored by the motion picture and television industries. 

Meir was born in Kiev, in the Ukraine.  Due to economic hardship, her family emigrated to the United States in 1906, settling in Milwaukee.  She joined a Zionist group in high school, and in 1921 she and her husband, Morris Myerson, immigrated to British Mandate Palestine.  Through various positions, she became active in fundraising in the United States to fund the costs of the Israeli war of independence.  In 1948, Meir signed Israel’s independence declaration.  The first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, appointed her as a member of the provisional Israeli government and as Israel’s ambassador to the Soviet Union. She was elected to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, in 1949 and remained a member of the Knesset until 1974.

In 1956, Meir became Foreign Minister, a position that she held for some 10 years.  From 1966 to 1968, she was the Secretary-General of the leftist Mapai party and then the first Secretary-General of the new Labor Party.  At age 71, she became Prime Minister on March 17, 1969, following the unexpected death of Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol.  She was the world’s third female Prime Minister, after Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka and Indira Gandhi of India.

Meir has inscribed and signed this photo in bright purple felt-tip pen in a light area in the lower left corner.  The writing has a bit of a pebbled appearance due to the surface of the photo paper.  There are bends at the upper corners, the photographer has signed “Photo by Leo Wainschel” in blue at the lower right, and his stamp appears on the back.  The photo is in fine condition.

Unframed.  Please ask us about custom framing this piece.