Prof. Moshe Rachmilewitz, for decades a foremost figure in the Israeli medical profession, died here last week. He was 86. His body lay in state Monday at the Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Karem, and was later interred at the Har Hamenuhot cemetery.
Born in Russia in 1899, Rachmilewitz studied at the Universities of Koenigsberg and Berlin, and came to Palestine in 1926 where he worked briefly at the Bikur Holim Hospital in Jerusalem.
After a period of further studies in Europe and the U.S. he was appointed senior physician at the department of internal diseases at Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem, and went on to head that department until 1959.
Rachmilewitz was among the founders of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in 1949 and later served as dean of the faculty of medicine at the university. He received the prestigious Israel Prize in 1964 and was made a “Worthy of Jerusalem” (Yakir Yerushalayim) in 1970. He was recognized worldwide as an authority on internal medicine and hematology and spoke at learned congresses throughout the world.
His two sons followed in his footsteps: Prof. Eliezer Rachmilewitz is head of the department of hematology at Hadassah, and Prof. Daniel Rachmilewitz is head of the department of gastroenterology at Hadassah.
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