Leon Blum

Leon Blum
Official Medal 2001/5761 Sixth and last in the "Jewish Contributors to World Culture" Series

Leon Blum, Socialist and fighter for human rights, first Jewish Prime Minister of France, was born in Paris in 1894. He was drawn into politics by the Dreyfus affair and is considered the founder of the modern French Socialist Party. In 1936, he was appointed Prime Minister of a leftist Front Populaire Government. This government introduced social reforms, including the reduction of the working week to 40 hours and paid vacations, nationalization of the Bank of France and the arms industry. In 1937, Blum was forced to resign, following France's defeat by the Nazis. He was tried by the Vichy Government as a war criminal. His brilliant show at the trial embarrassed the French and German Governments. The trial was stopped and Blum was sent to a Concentration Camp. He was released by the U.S. Forces in 1945. Leon Blum was a Zionist supporter. He encouraged France to vote in favor of the establishment of the State of Israel and was instrumental in preventing the British from stopping the flow of illegal immigrants into the Land of Israel.

Obverse: Portrait of Leon Blum to the left. To the right on a raised area, "Leon Blum" in Hebrew and English and below, Leon Blum's signature inscribed diagonally.

Reverse: To the left, barbed wire symbolizing Leon Blum's detention in the Concentration Camp. To the right, a quotation from Leon Blum's letter to Chaim Weizmann, "A worthy homeland, equal and free for every Jew" inscribed in Hebrew, French and English.

Edge: Israel State Emblem, words "STATE OF ISRAEL" inscribed in Hebrew on the right and in English on the left; serial number and metal.

Designer: Ruben Nutels

Engraving: Gold Medal: Tidhar Dagan Silver and Bronze Medals: Kretschmer, Jerusalem

Mint: Gold Medal: Government Mint, Jerusalem Silver and Bronze Medals: Kretschmer, Jerusalem