Yuval Ne'eman (1925-2006) was an Israeli theoretical and nuclear physicist, military officer, and hawkish right-wing politician. Born in Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine, as the grandson of one of the city's founders, he graduated from Herzliya Gymnasium at age 15 in 1940 and joined the Haganah that year. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, he served as deputy battalion commander and Tel Aviv operations chief, later commanding the IDF's Givati Brigade. His military career included roles as Deputy Commander of the Operations and Planning Departments (1952-1954), where he organized the reservist system and defense doctrine; IDF Attaché in the UK (1958-1960); and Deputy Head of Aman (military intelligence) in the early 1960s, demobilizing as a colonel in 1961. A graduate of the Paris Advanced School for War Studies, he earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in 1945 and a PhD in physics from Imperial College London under Abdus Salam (1958-1960). In physics, Ne'eman independently discovered the SU(3) flavour symmetry (the Eightfold Way) in 1961, foundational to the quark model. He founded and directed the School of Physics and Astronomy at Tel Aviv University (1965-1972), served as its president (1971-1977), and directed the Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies (1979-1997). Other roles included scientific director of the Soreq Nuclear Research Center, chief scientist of the Defense Ministry (1974-1976), co-director of the Center for Particle Theory at the University of Texas at Austin (1968-1990), member of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (1965-1984), founder and chair of the Israel Space Agency (1983 until near his death), and head of the Israeli Engineer Association (1998-2002). Politically, he founded the Tehiya party in the late 1970s as a Likud breakaway opposing the Camp David Accords, served as a Knesset member (1981-1990), Leader of the Opposition (1984-1988), and Minister of Science and Development/Technology (1982-1984, 1990-1992), losing positions after the 1992 elections. An Ashkenazi Jewish atheist, he was married to Dvora/Devorah and had children Anath and Teddy/Tid-al; his sister was Ruth Ben-Yisrael (1931-2020) and father Guedaliahu (1900-1987), an engineer. Awards include the Israel Prize in exact sciences (1969; returned in 1992 in protest), Albert Einstein Award (1970), National Academy of Sciences membership (1972), Wigner Medal (1984), EMET Prize (2003), College de France Medal, French Order of Merit (1972), and Birla Science Award (1998), plus honorary doctorates. He died on 26 April 2006 in Tel Aviv from a stroke, aged 80.