Personal Papers of Eliyahu Honig

Series

---

Series DescriptionThe collection covers personal material on Eliyahu Honig. Honig was born in Australia and grew up in the suburb of Brunswick in Melbourne, Victoria. He comes from a family with a long connection to Palestine as both his parents were born in Palestine and emigrated to Australia as conditions worsened for Jews there in the early 20th century. His father Yehuda Honig was a committed Zionist and an influential figure in the Victorian Jewish community, being elected as President of the Kadimah, The Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library in Melbourne three times. Honig spent his early years involved in the Habonim, the Labour Zionist youth movement, becoming one of its leaders and meeting his future wife Helen at one of their interstate camps. In 1950 Honig was the first Australian to play in the third Maccabi Games in Israel as a tennis player. He later moved to Israel with his wife in 1955 were he became the Director of Special Projects in the Public Relations division of the Hebrew University, and former Deputy Vice-President. In 1970 Honig and his family moved to Los Angeles for a year as part of his public relations work with the university where he gave lectures on Israel and was involved in extensive fundraising efforts. These fundraising efforts included events with renowned Israeli scholars and attracted many famous Hollywood actors who Honig established close relationships with and facilitated several high profile visits to Israel. Honig also visited Australia several times and was very successful in his fundraising efforts there as well as maintaining close connections with the Australian Jewish community. From 1984 to 1987 Honig conducted oral interviews with prominent figures in the early Australian Zionist movement for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Contemporary Jewry Oral History Division. His book Zionism in Australia 1920-1939: the Formative Years was published by the Mandelbaum Trust, the University of Sydney (Studies in Judaica, no 7) in 1997. His personal papers largely contain his research for this book. Honig has also written several journal articles throughout his life in publications such as The Australian Jewish News and The Jerusalem Post which are included in this collection. - 'Eliyahu Honig: A man of integrity and dedication' by Suzanne D. Rutland in Matnat Eliyahu: Essays for Eliyahu Honig edited by Allan Crown and Raymon Apple. Sydney: Mandelbaum Publishing 2011.
Series Number001
Dates(s)1912 to 2006
ProvenanceHONIG, Eliyahu (HONIGE)
Browse Hierarchy