Israel Polack
Israel Pollak (Hebrew: ישראל פולק; 1909–1993) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian, Chilean and Israeli textile industrialist. He is best known for founding the Israel-based Polgat company.[1]
Biography[]
Israel Pollak was born to a Jewish Orthodox family in Borșa, east Maramureș. In 1925, he moved to Gura Humorului, Bukovina, and later to Cernăuți. While in Cernăuți he studied at yeshiva and at a textile plant. In 1935, he founded an enterprise of its kind in the city.
Business career[]
After World War II, he emigrated to Chile where his brother Marcos had emigrated before the war. There with his brothers and brothers-in-law he founded the "Pollak Hnos." textile company. In 1960, Pinhas Sapir, then Israel's Minister of Industry, invited Pollak to make aliyah and to establish a textile plant in Kiryat Gat. The Pollak's new company, Polgat, grew into the largest textile, clothing and knitwear company in Israel. It eventually became a public corporation whose shares were traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. In 1970, the Pollaks founded Bagir, a men's division for suits and jackets.[2]
Awards and recognition[]
In 1990, Pollak was awarded the Israel Prize for his special contribution to society and the State of Israel.[3]
In 1992, he was honored by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
In 1993, he was honored by the Technion in Haifa.
See also[]
References[]
- 1909 births
- 1993 deaths
- 20th-century Chilean businesspeople
- Chilean Jews
- Israel Prize for special contribution to society and the State recipients
- 20th-century Israeli businesspeople
- Israeli Jews
- Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent
- Chilean emigrants to Israel
- People from Borșa
- 20th-century Romanian businesspeople
- Romanian emigrants to Chile
- Romanian Jews
- European business biography stubs
- Romanian people stubs
- South American business biography stubs
- Chilean people stubs
- Israeli people stubs
- Asian business biography stubs