Tsvi Nishri

Born Tsvi Hirsh Orloff in the Yekaterinoslav region of the Russian Empire (today in Ukraine), Tsvi (Zvi) Nishri studied in a heder and later had a secular education supplemented with Hebrew and Russian literature. Orloff left school at age thirteen to apprentice as a craftsman; during these years he also became a member of the local Ha-Po‘el ha-Tsa‘ir chapter and taught in a reformed heder. He served as a paramedic in the Russian army and following his release, immigrated to Palestine as part of the Second Aliyah. Nishri (his new Hebrew name) was offered a job as gymnastics teacher at the Herzliya Gymnasium, and after completing his degree in physical education at the University of Bern, he took up this position, which he held for the rest of his life. Nishri pioneered Hebrew gymnastics education in the Land of Israel: he taught gymnastics education at the Levinsky teachers’ college, led seminars on physical education for teachers, wrote Hebrew books on sports and exercise, and represented the Yishuv in international congresses on physical education and culture. Nishri was a founding member of the israeli Maccabi association, the Hebrew scouting movement, and the israeli Olympic Committee.