Yaakov (Jacob) Ofer (1926–2022)

Ariel-Leib-Leonid Friedman

Authors

Ariel-Leib-Leonid Friedman The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. E-mail: laibale@tauex.tau.ac.il https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4389-6858

Keywords:

obituary, personalia, myrmecology, Israel, Middle East, ants, ecology, biology

Abstract

Dr Yaakov (Jacob) Ofer, an Israeli myrmecologist, was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 20 September 1926. He survived Holocaust, and at age of twenty repatriated to Israel. Yaakov started as a member in several kibbutzim throughout Israel. Despite having no matriculation diploma he was able to complete his education, starting at Oranim College, then in Tel Aviv University, and received his MSc and PhD degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, studying various ecological and biological aspects of ants (Formicidae). For most of his career Ofer taught biology in the Kibbutzim College, Tel Aviv, and continued his myrmecological research, until final withdrawal in 2011. His studies resulted in several publications on the ecology and biology of various ants, particularly harvester ants (Messor) and weaver ants (Polyrachis), and culminated in the book on the ants of Israel, published in both Hebrew and English. One of Yaakov's important inventions was the namlul, a special cage for establishing and raising of artificial ant nests in captivity. Yaakov passed away on 19 June 2022, at the age of 96, in Herzliya, Israel, and has been survived by his children, grand- and great-grandchildren.

To cite: Friedman, A.L.L. 2023. Yaakov (Jacob) Ofer (1926–2022). Israel Journal of Entomology 52: 1–7.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10214068