Ben-Zion Mossinson

Born in Andreyevka, Russian Empire (today in Ukraine), Ben-Zion Mossinson received a traditional education in heder and yeshiva and came to embrace Zionist and Hebraist ideals. Immigrating to Palestine in 1904, he began teaching in 1907 at the newly established Herzliya Gymnasium, the first Hebraist high school in the Yishuv. Expelled from Palestine by Ottoman authorities during World War I, Mossinson traveled around the United States and other countries as a spokesperson for Zionism, attending multiple Zionist congresses as a delegate. He returned after the war and resumed his post at the Herzliya Gymnasium, where he would later serve as principal from 1921 to 1941.