Chaim Yassky
Chaim Yassky (1896–1948) was a physician and medical administrator in Jerusalem. He was killed in the Arab attack on a medical convoy bringing supplies to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus.
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Biography
Yassky was born in Kishinev, Russia. While studying medicine at the University of Odessa, he became active in the Zionist movement.[1] Before World War I he took part in Jewish self-defense against pogromists in Odessa.[2]
In 1920, Yassky immigrated with his wife Fanny (maiden name Gorodetsky) whom he married in Odessa; to Palestine, where he was appointed district physician of Haifa. As an ophthalmologist, he initiated programs to eradicate trachoma.[1] In 1931, Yassky became director of the Hadassah Medical Organization. He was one of the driving spirits behind the establishment of the Rothschild-Hadassah University Hospital on Mount Scopus, which was opened in 1939.
Yassky was killed in the Hadassah medical convoy massacre during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, approximately one month before Israel's declaration of independence. A bullet went through his liver and he exsanguinated in about ten minutes.
References
- Physicians, Forerunners of Modern Israel, David Margalith, Jerusalem Academy of Medicine, Tel Aviv 1973, p.75
- Gilbert, Martin (1998), Israel: A History. London: Black Swan. ISBN 0-552-99545-2, p.170
Bibliography
- Cornay, Joan (2001). Who's Who in Jewish History. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-26030-2