Hungarian-born photojournalist Paul Goldman was close friends with Polish-born Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion, the de facto leader of the Jewish community in Palestine during the 1940s.
On the night of November 29, 1947, two things happened:
First, United Nations adopted Resolution 181, the Partition Plan for Palestine, which recommended the establishment of independent Jewish and Arab states.
Second, Paul Goldman and his wife, Dina, welcomed their only child, a baby girl.
Goldman, who was covering Ben-Gurion, asked the leader what he should name his daughter. “Medina [state, in Hebrew], of course,” Ben-Gurion replied, “for they were born together.”
It was a very unusual name, but Goldman took the suggestion.
In May of 1948, Ben-Gurion formally proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. He served as Israel’s first Prime Minister from 1948 to 1963.
Sources:
- Halkin, Talya. “The Forgotten Negatives.” Jerusalem Post 24 Sept. 2004: 38.
- Musleah, Rahel. “The Arts: Photo Treasure in the Attic.” Hadassah Magazine Dec. 2005.
- David Ben-Gurion – Wikipedia
Image: David Ben-Gurion (public domain)
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