Aktzin Benjamin File / תיק אישי

Family background and early education

Benjamin was born into a wealthy Jewish family in Riga at the beginning of the 20th century. His father was a successful timber and grain merchant and director of a local bank, and his mother came from a respectable family background in the town of Dagda. He was the eldest son and brother to three older sisters: Rosa, Olga, and Berta.

• Multilingualism: His first spoken language was German, which he learned from his governess. However, his father insisted thatHebrew It would be the first language in which he learned to read and write, a decision that was unusual in educated households at the time. He later acquired full command of Russian and Yiddish as well.
• High school studies: He began his studies at the Russian State Gymnasium named after Alexander II, where he had to deal with the "Numrus Clausus" quotas for Jews. He later studied at a private German gymnasium run by von Tidbel. He completed his final year of studies inYiddish Gymnasium In Riga, which had a socialist ("Bundist") orientation, he served as the leader of the Zionist opposition among the students.

Zionist and political activity

Akcin was an ardent Zionist from a young age, influenced by his father.

• youth: At the age of 13, he became an official member of the Zionist Organization. At the age of 15, he tried to "run away" from home with his cousin to reach Israel and become a fisherman in the Sea of ​​Galilee, a plan that was aborted after the two of them wasted their money on cakes in a candy store.
• leadership: He was one of the founders and leaders of the movement "Resurrection", a Zionist organization for high school students in Riga, where he trained a generation of young Jews in Jewish history and Zionism.
• Contact with Jabotinsky: Akcin was identified with the Revisionist Zionist movement and even wrote the entry on Zeev Jabotinsky In the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, where he described Jabotinsky as a figure who became "an idol of Zionist youth."

Wanderings during the war

Akcin's life was deeply affected by the political upheavals in Europe:

• Saratov: In 1915, as the front in World War I approached, his family moved to Saratov, Russia, where he experienced a completely Russian environment and improved his command of the language.
• Soviet and German rule: He returned to Riga in 1916 and experienced the city's frequent changes of regime – from Tsarist rule, through the Russian Revolution, German occupation, and a brief period under Soviet rule in 1919. He described the Soviet period as an experience of food and fuel shortages, but also as a time of "democratic ecstasy" in the schools.

Academic career and achievements

After graduating from high school in 1922, Akcin went on to study at universities in Berlin, Vienna, and Paris.

• Degrees: He received a doctorate in social sciences in Vienna (1926) and a doctorate in law in Paris.
• Roles: Before immigrating to Israel in 1948, he taught in Paris and New York and served as an expert on international law at the US Library of Congress and the War Refugee Board.
• In Israel: He joined the faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as a professor of political science and constitutional law. In 1967 he was awarded the Israel Prize for Legal Sciences For his book "The Theory of Regimes" and his research in public law.

It is important to note: The sources describe Akcin as a broad-minded man, deeply influenced by his teachers (such as Max Lazarson) and the events of his time, and who maintained a proud Jewish and Zionist identity even in environments that were sometimes hostile or assimilating.

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