Shemuel Yeiven
Israeli archaeologist; he was born at Odessa, 2 Sept. 1896, son of Nissan Y. and Esther Yonis; he emigrated to Palestine at the age of nine and was educated at the Herzliya Gymnasium, Tel Aviv, Jaffa; he served in the Turkish army in World War I; he studied archaeology under Petrie at University College London, 1920-23, BA, 1923, MA, 1928; he excavated with Petrie and Brunton at Badari in 1923-4 and then took part in the Mond excavations at Luxor, 1924; he also excavated at Karanis with Starkey, 1924-6; his interest then shifted to the Near East excavating at Beth- Shean, 1924-8, Seleucia in Iraq, 1929-37 and Ali, 1933; he became Chairman of the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society, 1944-6, chief Hebrew translator for the British Mandatory Government, 1944-8, first Director of the Department of Antiquities in Israel, 1948-61, and founder and Professor of the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University; he died at Kfar Sava, Israel, 28 Feb. 1982.
