Reuven Chaikin

Reuven Chaikin was born in Tel Aviv in 1918. His mother's family had lived in the Land of Israel for four generations and descended from the Slonim family of Hebron. His father's family came from the Kyiv region of Ukraine. Both of his parents traced their lineage to Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad Hasidic movement, who encouraged his followers to settle in the Land of Israel. Reuven's great-grandmother arrived with a large group of Chabad immigrants in 1845. His parents later moved from Hebron to Zichron Yaakov and then to Tel Aviv.

 

He attended the Tachkemoni School in Tel Aviv. His 1935 matriculation certificate shows an inclination toward mathematics, the humanities, and history; he did less well in sports and Italian. He later made up for the sports grade as a dedicated golfer.

 

That year he left for London to study law and accounting at the London School of Economics. During the Second World War, the LSE moved to Cambridge, where he completed his studies. The war prevented him from attending his graduation. He received his diploma at a special ceremony fifty years later.

 

On his return home, he joined the British accounting firm Russell & Co. When the firm decided to close its operations in the country, Reuven took over the ownership and management of its Haifa branch. The Haifa firm later merged with a Tel Aviv firm, took the name Somekh Chaikin, and grew into one of the largest accounting firms in Israel.

 

Reuven retired from the firm in 1995, at 76. He remained active. He served on the University of Haifa Board of Trustees and its finance committee, and for thirty-five years he was active in Rotary Israel. He also enrolled as a student in the Department of Geography and took every course on geopolitics he could find. He took an active part in class, and younger students admired his knowledge and his energy.

 

At the end of each year, he made a donation to the department's journal, Ofakim be-Geografia (Horizons in Geography). He was upset to learn that the editorial board thanked him for it in the opening pages of each issue. Reuven gave to the student dormitories on the Haifa campus and to many other causes, always on condition of anonymity. In his will, he left support for a Chair of Geostrategy at the University, on condition that it bear his name only after his death.

 

Reuven Chaikin died on January 27, 2004, at 86. He was a man of books and music, a sportsman, and a committed Zionist, curious and active to the end. Behind a stern exterior, he was sensitive and generous.