Sara Azaryahu

Sara Azaryahu or Sarah Azariahu; ; Sarah Azaryahu; Sarah Meirov; Sarah Ozrakovski (17 July 1873 – 22 October 1962) was a Latvian-born Zionist, elected political official, and feminist educator in pre-state Israel.

Early life Azariahu was born in 1873 in Daugavpils (also known as Dvinsky and Dinaburg) which was then part of Russia and is today part of Latvia. Her parents were Bluma (born Eisenstein) and Shmaryahu Meirov. Her grandfather was the Chief Rabbi of the city, the noted rabbi Aharon Shaul Zelig Gurion-Meirov. She learnt Russian, German and French. She was taught Hebrew, the first prophets and about Judaism with a private teacher as the public schools would require violating the Sabbath, and she attended a gymnasium.

At this time, the Russian Enlightenment was spreading through the Jewish youth of Russia. Through this, Azariahu became familiar with revolutionary Russian literature, making contact with the Bund movement and spreading Russian language among Jewish Yeshiva students. Ultimately, her attachment to Zionism and Zionist ideology kept her away from fully subscribing to the Bund movement. In her writings, she noted that she was greatly influenced by Ahad Ha'am, Yehuda Leib Pinsker, Moshe Leib Lilienblum, and others. Following a wave of Pogroms in the Russian Empire in the 1880s, her attachment to Zionism grew stronger.

Studies In 1893 at the age of 20, Azariahu had to quit school to care for her younger sister for three years. In 1899 she became qualified to teach, and a year later decided to fulfill her dream to study at university. At this time it was becoming possible for women to study in Saint Petersburg, even if they were Jewish, if they had a resident's permit. Azariahu decided to lodge with friends in the city and to attend one of the new girl's medical schools. As she was nearing the end of her studies, due to putting her friends at risk and rising antisemitism she decided to leave school.

When Theodor Herzl founded the Zionist movement, Azariahu was impressed by, her perception of, his progressive attitude towards women.

First visit to Israel In 1897, Azariahu took her first visit to Israel, then Ottoman Palestine, with her sister who was sick from Malaria. She stayed there for two months.

In what Azariahu described as a "unique ploy without precedent in women's movements in other countries," the women's union established an independent campaign ticket to contest the elections for the elected assembly. In 1920, the Union joined the International Alliance of Women, an international alliance of women's unions, headquartered in London and including 53 other countries.

Elections were held in the settlement on April 19, 1920, following a strong campaign by the union. Seven women were elected to the first elected assembly, including Azariahu. She was chosen to sit in the honorary secretariat of the first session of the assembly but, as her presence as a woman bothered the ultra-Orthodox representatives, all honorary secretaries were asked to leave the stage.

In 1925, Azariahu participated in the second session of the Assembly of Representatives, and was a member of the National Committee dedicated to implementing the decisions of the Assembly of Representatives. In this role, she devoted time to the fight against discrimination against women in family matters including inheritance and guardianship.

In 1930 she served as a judge of the Hebrew Peace Court.

Family

The family lifestyle of Sarah and Yosef Azarihu was based on equality, their youngest son Arnan Azariahu said that family relations were based on respect and equality, both between the couple and between the parents and the children.