Ruth Popkin, Ex-President of Hadassah and Jewish National Fund, Dies at 101

Ruth Popkin Image by JNF

By JTA January 5, 2015

Ruth Popkin, who served as national president of Hadassah and the Jewish National Fund, has died.

Popkin died Friday at the age of 101.

She served as the 18th national president of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization, and was later named an honorary vice president of the organization. She also served as the national president of JNF from 1989 until 1993, and was a Century Council member.

Popkin also was a past member of the executive board of AIPAC, the cabinet of the American Zionist Movement, the board of directors of the United Israel Appeal and American Friends of Hebrew University. In 1987 she was the first woman elected as chair of the presidium and president of the World Zionist Congress.

The funeral is scheduled for Wednesday in New York.

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