First Address to the Knesset

The Zionist leader and chemist Chaim Weizmann was born to an observant Jewish family in Motol, Russian Empire (now in Belarus). He studied at universities in Berlin and Switzerland, receiving a doctorate in chemistry. In 1904, Weizmann moved to England to teach chemistry at the University of Manchester and from 1905 to 1908 worked for the Clayton Aniline Company, also in Manchester. Weizmann is credited with ensuring British support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland through the 1917 Balfour Declaration. Throughout his service as a leading figure in the Zionist movement, Weizmann pursued a scientific career and devoted himself to the establishment of a scientific research institute in Mandatory Palestine. In 1949, the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot (formerly the Daniel Sieff Institute) was renamed in his honor. He worked to gain support for a Jewish state from the United States as well as the United Nations. From 1920 to 1931 and 1935 to 1946 Weizmann served as president of the World Zionist Organization. He was elected president of the state of Israel in 1949, and he served in this role until his death.