KITRÓN (Kostrinsky), MOSHE

KITRÓN (Kostrinsky ), MOSHE (1909–1972), Argentinean Zionist leader and educator. Kitrón was born in Pinsk, Belarus, and immigrated to Argentina in 1927. There he became a teacher in Jewish schools and was the secretary of the Zionist Po'alei Zion Party, dealing especially with its relations with the Argentinean Socialist Party. Having given up an academic career for ideological reasons, he became an intellectual on the political scene; Kitrón published a large number of articles in party periodicals and in other publications in a number of languages and countries. He also translated David Ben-Gurion's writings into Spanish and contributed to encyclopedias. In 1934 he founded the Zionist pioneer youth movement Dror and was its ideological leader. The members of the movement founded kibbutz Mefallesim in Israel in 1949. In the same year Kitrón made aliyah with his family. In Israel, Kitrón was secretary of Mapai in Tel Aviv and an official member of its inner circle, heading its department for Oriental Jews – a highly sensitive position during the 1950s waves of immigration. Kitrón also served as a liaison between immigrants from Latin America and the Israeli milieu. He served as director of the Educational and Cultural Center of the Histadrut ha-Ovedim ha-Kelalit (Workers Union), creating contacts with Latin American worker's organizations. His career declined during the 1960s, as he failed to find his place in Israel as an ideologist and intellectual. His wife, Ruth Gold, was an outstanding teacher and leader in the Jewish schools of Argentina.

[Efraim Zadoff (2^nd ed.)]