History of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology was Ahad Ha-Am, the distinguished Zionist philosopher. Ahad Ha-Am was able to recruit Wissotsky’s son David to the Technikum plan, and a first contribution of 100,000 rubles was made. In 1908, the American philanthropist Jacob Schiff was visiting the "holy land". Schiff was affected by the poverty and destitution he found among many of the Jews of Palestine and was inspired by the idea of an institution that would provide technical training. Back in Europe, interest in the new Technikum was kept high. In 1909 Dr. Chaim Weizmann, who would later become President of the State of Israel, reported to
Meyer Weisgal Weizmann Institute and are buried there, near the Chaim Weizmann House. Meyer Weisgal Meyer Wolf Weisgal (November 10, 1894 – September 29, 1977) was a Jewish American journalist, publisher, playwright, fundraiser, and Zionist activist who served as the President of the Weizmann Institute of Science and as the founding President of Beit Hatfutsot (the Jewish Diaspora Museum). Born in the Pale of Settlement, he emigrated to New York City, US with his parents at age 11, where he finished high school and studied journalism at Columbia University. He married Shirley (née Hirshfeld) in 1923. In 1926, he published the first