Meir Shamgar (born August 13, 1925) was President of the Israeli Supreme Court from 1983 until 1995.

Biography

Shamgar was born Meir Sterenberg (or Sternberg) in the Free City of Danzig

Free City of Danzig

The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....

 (modern Gdańsk

Gdansk

Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...

, Poland) to Eliezer and Dina Sterenberg.http://books.google.com/books?id=NKcjAAAAMAAJ&q=Meir+Shamgar+sterenberg&dq=Meir+Shamgar+sterenberg&hl=en&ei=VbxWTp2xNMfd0QGuq5C8DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ

He emigrated to Palestine in 1939.http://books.google.com/books?id=NKcjAAAAMAAJ&q=Meir+Shamgar+sterenberg+eritrea&dq=Meir+Shamgar+sterenberg+eritrea&hl=en&ei=zrxWTqKOEsT10gH25sGtDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ

He was arrested by the British in 1944 for anti-British activity and being an Irgun

Irgun

The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...

 activist, and deported from Palestine to Eritrea

Eritrea

Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...

. While in detention in Eritrea he studied law by a correspondence course with the University of London.http://books.google.com/books?id=p0gsAQAAIAAJ&q=Meir+Shamgar+sterenberg+eritrea&dq=Meir+Shamgar+sterenberg+eritrea&hl=en&ei=zrxWTqKOEsT10gH25sGtDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAAhttp://books.google.com/books?id=NKcjAAAAMAAJ&q=Meir+Shamgar+sterenberg+eritrea&dq=Meir+Shamgar+sterenberg+eritrea&hl=en&ei=zrxWTqKOEsT10gH25sGtDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQhttp://books.google.com/books?id=bQEAmjk4Wh0C&pg=PA215&dq=Meir+Shamgar+1939&hl=en&ei=ib5WTp2FJcXE0AHMy-HBDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Meir%20Shamgar%201939&f=false Fellow inmates in Eritrea included Yitzhak Shamir

Yitzhak Shamir

' is a former Israeli politician, the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, in 1983–84 and 1986–92.-Biography:Icchak Jeziernicky was born in Ruzhany , Russian Empire . He studied at a Hebrew High School in Białystok, Poland. As a youth he joined Betar, the Revisionist Zionist youth movement...

 and Shmuel Tamir

Shmuel Tamir

Shmuel M. Tamir was a prominent Israeli independence fighter, lawyer, Knesset member from 1965 to 1980, and Minister of Justice in the government of Menachem Begin from 1977 until 1980-Irgun:...

.http://books.google.com/books?id=nWEwAQAAIAAJ&q=Meir+Shamgar+eritrea&dq=Meir+Shamgar+eritrea&hl=en&ei=-b1WTuTtNYrn0QHb3ZTQDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBw

He studied history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 and philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...

 and law at the Government Law School of the University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

. Part of his legal studies was done while he was interned in Africa

Irgun and Lehi internment in Africa

From 1944 to 1948, Irgun and Lehi men being held without trial at the Latroun concentration camp were deported by the British Mandate of Palestine authorities to internment camps in Africa, located in Sembel , Carthago, Sudan, and Gilgil...

.

He served in the Israel Defense Forces

Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

, fighting in the 1948 War of Independence and attaining the rank of Brigadier General

Brigadier General

Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...

.http://books.google.com/books?id=bQEAmjk4Wh0C&pg=PA215&dq=Meir+Shamgar+1939&hl=en&ei=ib5WTp2FJcXE0AHMy-HBDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Meir%20Shamgar%201939&f=false

In 1996 Shamgar chaired the Commission of Inquiry

Shamgar Commission

The Shamgar commission was the official Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in late 1995...

 into murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin

Yitzhak Rabin

' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....

.

Awards

In 1996, Shamgar was awarded the Israel Prize

Israel Prize

The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...

, for his special contribution to society and the State of Israel.

In 2005, he was voted the 99th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet

Ynet

Ynet is the most popular Israeli news and general content website. It is owned by the same conglomerate that operates Yediot Ahronot, the country's secondleading daily newspaper...

to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.

External links

• And Justice for all, Voice of sweet reason

See also

• List of Israel Prize recipients