Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium

Herzliya Hebrew High School HaGymnasia HaIvrit Herzliya הגימנסיה העברית הרצליה
Herzliya Hebrew High School, 1936
Location
Tel Aviv, Israel
Coordinates	32°5′13.11″N 34°47′5.38″E / 32.0869750°N 34.7848278°E
Information
Established	1905
Principal	Ze'ev Dgannie
Website	http://www.gymnasia.co.il/

The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium (Hebrew: הגימנסיה העברית הרצליה‎‎, HaGymnasia HaIvrit Herzliya, Also known as Gymnasia Herzliya), originally known as HaGymnasia HaIvrit (lit. Hebrew High School) is a historic high school in Tel Aviv, Israel.

History

The original building

The school was founded in 1905 in Ottoman-controlled Jaffa. The cornerstone-laying for the school's new building on Herzl Street in the Ahuzat Bayit neighborhood of Tel Aviv took place on July 28, 1909. Gymnasia Herzliya was the country's first Hebrew high school.^[1] The building was designed by Joseph Barsky, inspired by descriptions of Solomon's Temple.^[2]

The building on Herzl Street was a major Tel Aviv landmark until 1962, when the site was razed for the construction of the Shalom Meir Tower. The destruction of the building sparked widespread recognition of the importance of conserving historical landmarks. The Society for Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites was founded in the 1980s partly in response to the fate of Herzliya Hebrew High School.

The current building

Located today on Jabotinsky Street, it serves as a six-year secondary school. The modern campus is entered through a gate that is a replica of the facade of the 1909 building.

Principals

New building on Jabotinsky street. The gate was built in 2006.

Former principals include Haim Bograshov, Baruch Ben Yehuda and Carmi Yogev. In 1992, former Air Force commander, Ron Huldai was appointed principal. He implemented many changes and modernizations later adopted by other schools. After leaving the school, he was elected mayor of Tel Aviv. The current principal is Ze'ev Dgannie.

Notable faculty

• Yosef Haim Brenner, writer
• Zvi Nishri, physical education pioneer
• Shaul Tchernichovsky, poet

Notable alumni

Nathan Alterman

• Nathan Alterman (1910–70), poet^[3]
• Netiva Ben-Yehuda (1928-2011), Palmach commander, Hebrew scholar, and author
• Miriam Bernstein-Cohen (1895-1991), actress
• Aron Brand, pediatric cardiologist
• Yitzhak Danziger (1916–1977), sculptor
• Nachum Gutman, (1898–1980), painter, sculptor, and author
• Ron Huldai, mayor of Tel Aviv since 1998 (as of April 2015)
• Yaron London, (1940-), media personality, journalist, actor, and songwriter
• Aharon Megged, (1920-2016), writer
• Moshe Menuhin, (1893-1983), author
• Yuval Neeman, (1925–2006), physicist
• Elyakum Ostashinski, first mayor of Rishon LeZion
• Moshe Sharett (1894–1965), second Prime Minister of Israel (1954–55)
• Avraham Shlonsky (1900–73), poet
• Giora Spiegel (born 1947), soccer player and coach
• Avigdor Stematsky (1908–89), painter
• Yemima Tchernovitz-Avidar (1909–98), author
• Dr. Yacov Levy (1894-1956), author, educator, historian^[4]
• Yair Lapid, journalist, author, and politician; former Israeli Minister of Finance and chairman of the Yesh Atid Party

References

1. This day in Israel's history: July 28, 1909
2. Sergey R. Kravtsov, "Reconstruction of the Temple by Charles Chipiez and Its Application in Architecture," Ars Judaica, Vol. 4, 2008
3. Natan Alterman, jewishvirtuallibrary.org
4. Dr Yacov Levy http://www.tidhar.tourolib.org/tidhar/view/6/2558

External links

• School website (in Hebrew)

Coordinates: 32°5′13.11″N 34°47′5.38″E / 32.0869750°N 34.7848278°E