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Ofira Navon, wife of the former President Yitzhak Navon, died of leukemia in Jerusalem on Sunday 22 August 1993, aged 57, She was buried on Monday at Mount Herzl next to the graves of Israel's third President Zalman Shazar and his wife Rachel

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  • The Archives Collection of the National Library of Israel The Archives Collection of the National Library of Israel
Title Ofira Navon, wife of the former President Yitzhak Navon, died of leukemia in Jerusalem on Sunday 22 August 1993, aged 57, She was buried on Monday at Mount Herzl next to the graves of Israel's third President Zalman Shazar and his wife Rachel.
Scope and content Ofira leaves her husband, aged 72, daughter Na'ama, 20, and son Erez, 19. Hundreds of mourners attented the funeral including current President Ezer Weizman, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, former Presidents Chaim Herzog and Efraim Katzir, Knesset Speaker Shevah Weiss, State Comptroller Miriam Ben-Porat, a number of Cabinet Ministers and Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek. Ofira Navon had previousiy beaten two successive bouts of breast cancer - the first attacking in 1979 just 15 months after her husband became president. She defied her doctor's orders to have a mastectomy and instead underwent painful treatment by radioactive needles and chemotherapy. It was this which sparked a movement eventually to change Israel's health regulations when mastectomy were no longer deemed compulsory in cases of breast cancer. Ofira Navon became a symbol to thousands of Israeli women to fight for personal choice in the fields of health and medicine. At that time Navon was just 43 and ~ glamorous Jackie Kennedy-style first lady with two small children. She was known however, not only for her beauty but for her academic achievements - a first degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a master's degree in psychology and adult education from the University of Georgia and a doctorate from Columbia University. In 1961, during her studies at Columbia she met then top aide to David Ben-Gurion, Yitzhak Navon, and they were married two years later. At the funeral her husband read the notes that she had written from her hospital bed about her two last requests. The first was that the world should never give up the fight against cancer because every moment of human life is a gift from God. Her more personal request was for. Photo shows: three former Israel Prersidents and the current first lady at the funeral of Ofira Navon. From left Haim Herzog
Ezer Weizman and Efraim Katzir.
Creation Date 1993
Notes המידע אודות התצלום נמסר על ידי יוצר האוסף, מר דן הדני
Genre negative
Call number at Current Custodian הספרייה הלאומית, ארכיון דן הדני
IPPA-22811-002-07
Additional Place צולם בתאריך: 24 באוגוסט 1993
Extent 1 photograph : color
35 mm..
Host Item ארכיון דן הדני.
Language No linguistic content
Call Number ARC. 4* 1995 30 22811 7
Access Rights online_resources
Level of Description File Record
Credits ארכיון דן הדני, האוסף הלאומי לתצלומים על שם משפחת פריצקר, הספרייה הלאומית Dan Hadani Collection, The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection, The National Library of Israel
National Library system number 990040362190205171
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ארכיון דן הדני, האוסף הלאומי לתצלומים על שם משפחת פריצקר, הספרייה הלאומית Dan Hadani Collection, The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection, The National Library of Israel

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