(Zvi is on the right. Photo: Ze'ev Galibov)Zvi Alexander passed away two days ago in Switzerland after suffering excruciating back pain for many weeks. He was 86 and was being treated for widespread cancer, but his physicians were unable to find a cause for the back pain, or to give him sufficient help. From a distance, this was most frustrating and perplexing to me. Through my occasional phone calls I could feel his gradual deterioration, but his mind remained crystal clear. I am not sure how much the cancer responded to the treatment, but the final heart attack would have been a merciful and rapid relief.
I became aquainted with Zvi at the Palestine-Israel philatelic meetings, when these still took place at the Victory Club. Whereas I was an amateur, he was clearly a top expert of Holy Land postal history from Turkish times to the War of Independence. His knowledge was phenomenal. His wisdom and wealth enabled him to create an outstanding collection and he reaped the top prizes at exhibitions. This is now housed at the Ha'aretz Museum in Tel Aviv (see: 'A New Book' 09. 06. 08). Despite all this, and his high former position in Isreal business management, there was not a trace of elitism or snobbishness about him. He was always very friendly and he had a marvellous sense of humour.
I was at the time editor of the Palestine-Israel philatelic Bulletin, to which he contributed occasionally. By chance, one day, Zvi discovered my past history and decoration in the Israel Army (See 'Nuqueib' 26. &27. 04. 08). My senior army medical officer at the time, Gillon, is one of Zvi's good friends and his medical advisers. Later, for a time, I was able to help Rachel with a medical problem - a sign of his trust.
One day in 2000 Zvi showed me the manuscript of his memoirs about his directorship of Israel's oil industry. I found it fascinating. The book was published in Hebrew, but I suggested that he ought to publish it in English. Twice, Zvi angrily rejected examples of the translated English versions that had been produced by the Gefen Publishers in Jerusalem - they failed to preserve the nuances of Zvi's Hebrew style. We solved the problem with the help of modern technology. Gefen e-mailed me their proposed English translation, chapter by chapter. By reference to the published Hebrew text, and knowing Zvi, I would modify the English style - including the technical details of oil exploration. This I then emailed to Zvi. There would then follow a very long phone conversation between us to sort out Zvi's misgivings. Once it was all agreed, I would email the final version to Zvi, and back to Gefen for type setting.
I advised Gefen not to touch chapter 9: it dealt with Zvi's family, and it had already been 'edited' by them - Shaula and Kobi and even Rachel, I think. All ended well. The book "OIL - Israel's Covert Efforts to Secure Oil Supplies" appeared in 2004. But it is really of interest mainly to readers who know about Israel's personalities of the 1950s to 1970s. At my request, Zvi did not mention my work - it was purely technical and linguistic. Zvi gave me a generous and practical present.
Zvi's phenomenal memory and lucid style did not seem to diminish with the years. The book reflects Zvi's immense hard work and tenacity - qualities that he demonstrated in all his many fields of activity. Although Zvi encountered some unsavoury charachters and suffered occasional disappointments, he was never bitter in his comments.
When he told me the diagnosis of cancer, we both knew that the outlook was bleak. He said, "this is not the end that had I envisaged." None of us did.
May his memory be for a blessing.
I became aquainted with Zvi at the Palestine-Israel philatelic meetings, when these still took place at the Victory Club. Whereas I was an amateur, he was clearly a top expert of Holy Land postal history from Turkish times to the War of Independence. His knowledge was phenomenal. His wisdom and wealth enabled him to create an outstanding collection and he reaped the top prizes at exhibitions. This is now housed at the Ha'aretz Museum in Tel Aviv (see: 'A New Book' 09. 06. 08). Despite all this, and his high former position in Isreal business management, there was not a trace of elitism or snobbishness about him. He was always very friendly and he had a marvellous sense of humour.
I was at the time editor of the Palestine-Israel philatelic Bulletin, to which he contributed occasionally. By chance, one day, Zvi discovered my past history and decoration in the Israel Army (See 'Nuqueib' 26. &27. 04. 08). My senior army medical officer at the time, Gillon, is one of Zvi's good friends and his medical advisers. Later, for a time, I was able to help Rachel with a medical problem - a sign of his trust.
One day in 2000 Zvi showed me the manuscript of his memoirs about his directorship of Israel's oil industry. I found it fascinating. The book was published in Hebrew, but I suggested that he ought to publish it in English. Twice, Zvi angrily rejected examples of the translated English versions that had been produced by the Gefen Publishers in Jerusalem - they failed to preserve the nuances of Zvi's Hebrew style. We solved the problem with the help of modern technology. Gefen e-mailed me their proposed English translation, chapter by chapter. By reference to the published Hebrew text, and knowing Zvi, I would modify the English style - including the technical details of oil exploration. This I then emailed to Zvi. There would then follow a very long phone conversation between us to sort out Zvi's misgivings. Once it was all agreed, I would email the final version to Zvi, and back to Gefen for type setting.
I advised Gefen not to touch chapter 9: it dealt with Zvi's family, and it had already been 'edited' by them - Shaula and Kobi and even Rachel, I think. All ended well. The book "OIL - Israel's Covert Efforts to Secure Oil Supplies" appeared in 2004. But it is really of interest mainly to readers who know about Israel's personalities of the 1950s to 1970s. At my request, Zvi did not mention my work - it was purely technical and linguistic. Zvi gave me a generous and practical present.
Zvi's phenomenal memory and lucid style did not seem to diminish with the years. The book reflects Zvi's immense hard work and tenacity - qualities that he demonstrated in all his many fields of activity. Although Zvi encountered some unsavoury charachters and suffered occasional disappointments, he was never bitter in his comments.
When he told me the diagnosis of cancer, we both knew that the outlook was bleak. He said, "this is not the end that had I envisaged." None of us did.
May his memory be for a blessing.
1 comment:
Thank you for your post. My father worked for Signal Oil (William Miller), and I can remember Mr. Alexander visiting our home a few times when I was a young girl back in the early 70's. Such a nice man. I can remember jumping on a trampoline in the backyard and trying to impress my father's friends, and I remember that Mr. Alexander was not too sure about the mini-hotdogs wrapped in bread dough that my mother served as an appetizer! Oh, the things you remember!
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