Isaac Hamlin, a veteran leader of the Labor Zionist movement and a founder and first national secretary of the National Committee for Labor Israel, died at his home here this morning at the age of 75. He had served for the past 10 years as director of the Histadrut Center in Tel Aviv.
Mr. Hamlin had recently returned to Israel after a two-month visit to the United States during which he was honored on the occasion of his 75th birthday and his half-century of service to the cause of Labor Zionism.
Among those paying tribute to Mr. Hamlin on his birthday were President Zalman Shazar of Israel; Prime Minister Levi Eshkol; former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion; Mrs. Golda Meir, general secretary of Mapai and former Foreign Minister; and Aharon Becker, general secretary of the Histadrut, the Israel labor federation.
Born in Comarin, Russia, Mr. Hamlin emigrated to the United States and settled in Boston in 1909. He served as general secretary of the Poale Zion Party of America from 1921 to 1924 and was national secretary of the National Committee for Labor Israel from 1923 until he emigrated to Israel in 1956.
He played a major role in the establishment of the Joint Distribution Committee and was a founder of the American Jewish Congress. Mr. Hamlin was a delegate to Zionist congresses from 1926 until 1956 and served as a board member of the United Jewish Appeal and the United Israel Appeal. He was a frequent contributor to the Yiddish press.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
