Yair Sprinzak

Professor Yair Sprinzak (Hebrew: יאיר שפרינצק‎, born 8 November 1911, died 6 September 1999) was an Israeli scientist and politician who served one term in the Knesset.

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Background

Born in Tel Aviv when the Ottoman Empire was still the local power, Sprinzak went to high school in Jerusalem and studied chemistry at the University of Brussels. He worked as a senior researcher in the organic chemistry department at the Weizmann Institute before becoming a professor at Tel Aviv University. He was particularly involved in work on desalinisation.

Political career

His father, Yosef Sprinzak, was a politician in the early days of the state, and was a member of the Knesset for the left-wing Mapai, as well as being the first Knesset speaker.

In contrast, Yair Sprinzak became involved in right-wing politics, joining the Movement for Greater Israel and becoming a member of its directorate. He was active in the Tehiya party, and was one of the founders of Moledet in 1988. In the same year he was elected to the Knesset on Moledet's list.

As the eldest member of Knesset, Sprinzak also served temporarily as Speaker of the Knesset until a permanent replacement could be elected. Because of his hawkish views, a number of Knesset members refused to appear during his tenure. However, he lost his seat in the 1992 election, and passed away in 1999.

Having been elected at the age of 76, Sprinzak was at the time the oldest person ever elected to the Knesset for the first time. This record was broken by Rafi Eitan, who was elected at the age of 79 in the 2006 election.