Golda Meir (born Golda Mabovitch, 1898-1978) was Israel's fourth Prime Minister (1969-1974), the first and only woman to hold the office to date, and previously served as Foreign Minister (1956-1966). Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv (then Kiev, Russian Empire), she experienced pogroms that prompted her family to immigrate to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1906. There, she attended the Milwaukee Normal School, trained as a teacher, and became active in the Labor Zionist movement, leading the Milwaukee Labor Zionist Party. In 1921, she made aliyah to Mandatory Palestine, joined Kibbutz Merhavia, and rose through the ranks of the Histadrut labor federation, becoming a key figure in Po'alei Zion and Mapai party politics. Meir played a pivotal role in Israel's state-building efforts, fundraising for arms during the 1948 War of Independence as a UN delegate and later as ambassador to the Soviet Union. As Foreign Minister, she navigated Cold War diplomacy, and as Prime Minister, she led Israel through the 1973 Yom Kippur War, after which she resigned amid criticism over intelligence failures. A symbol of Zionist determination and one of the first women to head a modern nation-state, Meir's legacy includes her autobiography 'My Life' and enduring influence in Labor Zionism.