Aaron Aaronsohn

November 13, 1979

A commemorative postage stamp on Aaron Aaronsohn, discoverer of emmer (the mother of wheat) and one of the founders of NILI espionage network [part of the series ‘Historical Personalities (VI)‘] :

Issued by Israel

Issued on 13 Nov, 1979

Designer : The stamps were designed by Z. Narkiss, Tel Aviv

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Pale Yellow & Dark Olive

Denomination : 13 Pound

Name : Aaron Aaronsohn

Born on 21 May, 1876 at Bacău, Romania

Died on 15 May, 1919 at English Channel

About :

AARON AARONSOHN was born in 1876 in Rumania and immigrated in 1882 to Eretz–Israel with his parents, who were among the founders of Zikhron–Ya’aqov, where Beit Aaronsohn stands housing a botanical museum and library, and the family home.
Aaronsohn studied agriculture in France and became an instructor and adviser on agricultural and technical matters. In 1906 he discovered the Emmer Wheat (“Triticum dicoccoides”) in the Galilee. This discovery, as well as other scientific papers published in a number of botanical monthlies, brought Aaronsohn world-wide renown. In 1910 he travelled to the United States where he came in touch with some influential Jews who helped him establish an agricultural experimental station at Athlit, on the coast south of Haifa. The outbreak of the first world war made a deep impact on the life of Aaron Aaronsohn. As an international figure he was a member of a committee which allocated funds sent from the U.S.A. to the Jews of Palestine. His contacts with the Turkish authorities convinced him that under this cruel and corrupt regime the Zionist cause would not flourish. He therefore organized an underground intelligence service known as “Nili”, which was based at the Athlit station, where British ships would come surreptitiously to collect messages.
The Nili group was composed of Aaronsohn’s friends and family, and included his brother Alexander and his sister Sarah. Sarah was arrested in 1917 and after being tortured by the Turks for three days shot herself without revealing any of the Nili secrets.
Aaron Aaronsohn continued to be active on the world Jewish scene and was highly thought of by Dr. H. Weizmann who, in 1918, included him in the Zionist Council of Palestine. He acted as expert to the Zionist delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference in the question of the boundaries for the British Mandate. Flying on this mission from London to Paris on 15 May 1919 his plane crashed in the British Channel and he was reported missing.
Sylvia Mann