יצחק גרונבאום

Yitzhak Gruenbaum (1879-1970), Zionist and Jewish leader in Poland and Israeli politician, born in Warsaw, Poland (then part of the Russian Empire). Gruenbaum grew up in Plonsk in Russian Poland, where he joined the Zionist movement in 1888 while in high school. His Zionist activities continued while studying law in Warsaw. He was a delegate to Zionist Congresses from the seventh congress in 1905. In Poland
he was active in promoting Hebrew culture and believed that the Zionists were the natural leaders of the diaspora Jews in the struggle for their rights. He was a central figure at the conference of Russian Zionists at Helsingfors (Helsinki, Finland) in 1906 and was in St. Petersburg, Russia, during the First World War, but returned to Warsaw in 1918, where he helped to establish the Provisional National Council, which played an important role in the campaign for civic and political rights of the Jews during the first years of independent Poland. In 1919, Gruenbaum was elected to the Sejm, the Polish parliament, where he fought for the rights of national minorities, and he remained a member until he left Poland in 1932.

At first he moved to Paris, France, but at the 1933 Zionist Congress he was elected a member of the Jewish Agency Executive and settled in Palestine. He was immediately appointed head of the Aliya Department, a position he held for two years. From 1935-1948, he was head of the Labor Department, one of the leaders of the Organization Department and also headed the Bialik publishing house. He served as treasurer of the Jewish Agency from 1949-1950.
On the eve of the establishment of the State of Israel, Gruenbaum was a member of Minhelet ha-Am (People's Administration) in charge of internal affairs and became minister of the interior in the Provisional Government. He ran for election to the Knesset in 1949 under his own personal list, campaigning largely for the secularization of the state, but was not elected.

Associated with the left wing of the Israel labour movement he remained active for many years and contributing frequent articles to the Mapam newspaper "Al HaMishmar".