Akiva Ettinger

Akiva Jacob Ettinger (עקיבא יעקב אטינגר; 1872 - 1945) was an agronomist and an early Zionist leader who advocated for agricultural settlement in Ottoman Palestine. He led the Jewish National Fund's land purchases in Palestine and functioned as director general of the Jewish Colonization Association in South Russia, Brazil, and Argentina. During World War I, he was one of the founders of the Jewish Legion. He was also affiliated with the Jewish National Council, where he oversaw projects to drain swamps and forests.

Early life
Ettinger was born into a well-to-do family in Vitebsk, Belorussia; his mother was descended from the renowned Talmudic scholar Rabbi Akiva Eiger. He received a degree in agriculture from Saint Petersburg University.

Zionist activism
In 1898, he participated in an inquiry into the conditions facing Jewish farmers in southern Russia as a representative of the Jewish Colonization Association (ICA). Following this, he was requested to create a Jewish model farm in Bessarabia.

In 1902, the Odessa Committee of Hovevei Zion dispatched Ettinger and Ahad HaAm to Ottoman Palestine to look into the condition of Jewish settlements.

Chaim Weizmann called Ettinger to London as an advisor on settlement issues during the Balfour Declaration negotiations. It was during this trip that he wrote his memorandum titled “Palestine after the War: Proposals for Administration and Development”.

After relocating to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1918, Ettinger led the Zionist Organization's Department of Agricultural Settlement until 1924. After acquiring land in 1919, he established a village that would later serve as a model for hill settlements: Kiryat Anavim.

Ettinger was a key figure in the Jewish National Fund's acquisition of land, as well as in the planning and execution of settlements (kibbutzes, moshavs, and kevuaahs), supporting their growth as mixed farms with a focus on orchards and dairy farming. He also presented fresh techniques for afforestation.

Death
Akiva Ettinger died in 1945, and was buried in Kiryat Anavim.