Uzi Gal
Uzi Gal (actually Uziel Gal , Hebrew עֻזִּיאֵל גַּל ʿU zz ī'el Gal , Plene עוזיאל; * December 15, 1923 in Weimar as Gotthard Glas ; † September 7, 2002 in Philadelphia ) was an Israeli weapons technician from Germany . Since 1948 (when he was a young officer with the rank of lieutenant ) he designed and developed the submachine gun " Uzi ", which was soon to be used worldwide . He was never involved in the financial success of his invention.
Life
Gotthard Glass, son of the painter and graphic artist Erich Glass and his wife Miele, emigrated to the seizure of power of Hitler by Britain and three years later to Palestine in Kibbutz Yagur in the Carmel Mountains , where he Hebrew name Uziel Gal accepted.
In 1943 he was arrested for illegal possession of weapons and sentenced to six years in prison, some of which he served in Acre Prison . However, he was released early in 1946.
Uziel Gal began work on the Uzi in 1948, shortly after the Israeli War of Independence . His project was officially taken over by the Israeli army and, against his stated will, the weapon was named Uzi . Uziel Gal was the first recipient of the Israel Security Award in 1958 , which was presented to him by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in recognition of his development work.
In 1975 Uziel Gal left the army and moved to the USA in Philadelphia in Pennsylvania in 1976 so that his daughter Tamar (* 1961), who suffered from a serious brain disease, could receive medical treatment there (she died in 1984). His wife died there in 1998. Uziel Gal worked as a weapons designer until his death from cancer in 2002. He left a son.
Web links
- Guardian article about Uziel Gal (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2002: The Man Who Brought Us the Uzi Dies. Haaretz.com, September 7, 2016, accessed October 27, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gal, Uzi |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gal, Uziel (full name); Glas, Gotthard (birth name); עוזיאל גל (Hebrew) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Israeli weapons technician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 15, 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Weimar |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 7, 2002 |
| Place of death | Philadelphia |