Ittamar Ben Avi, Hebrew Editor and Author, Dies Here at 60

Ittamar Ben Avi, noted Zionist leader and Hebrew editor and author, died at his home here this morning at the age of 60. He will be buried in Newark, where his body will remain until it can be transferred to Palestine after the war. Dr. Stephen S. Wise will deliver the eulogy at the funeral services.

Mr. Ben Avi was the son of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, famous Hebrew author and lexicographer, who is regarded as the father of modern Hebrew as a spoken language, and was the first Jewish child in modern times to have been reared with Hebrew as his native tongue. He received his early education in Jerusalem and later studied at the universities of Paris and Berlin. Former editor of Doar Ha’Yom, the Palestine Daily Mail, he had written extensively in Hebrew as well as in most of the European languages. He played a prominent part during the first world war and in the postwar era.

Mr. Ben Avi was twice sentenced to jail for a period of several months for having conducted pro-Allied political activities in Palestine when it was under Turkish rule and was later condemned to death but managed to escape a few hours before the execution. He had spent considerable time in the United States on missions for various Zionist causes.