Jehiel R. Elyachar

Elyachar was born on October 20, 1898, in Jerusalem, then part of the Ottoman Empire. He was educated as an engineer in Paris before emigrating to the United States in 1928. He established the Straight Construction Corporation and built his business by managing foreclosed properties he had bought from banks during the Great Depression. Elyachar enlisted in the United States Army during World War II as a private, advancing to the rank of colonel in charge of military intelligence for General Dwight D. Eisenhower. His engineering skills came into play in the construction of vital railroad bridges that helped clear the way for General George S. Patton's Third Army tanks to advance into Nazi Germany. For his service, Elyachar earned the Bronze Star Medal and the Legion of Merit in recognition of his building "the foundation of modern military intelligence" during the war. He was also awarded the Légion d'honneur from the French government. He later served as an adviser to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. ==Real estate==

He resumed his real estate business after completing his military service, buying and building commercial and residential buildings, primarily in Manhattan. Eventually he built a portfolio that was worth as much as $100 million. A resident of 33 West 63rd said that the building "sticks out like a sore thumb, or a finger — which is probably what the colonel had in mind". ==Legacy==

's Central Library, which bears his name Since the 1950s Elyachar started contributing to American and Israeli causes. He was the founder and president of the American Society for Technion, an organization created to assist the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, the largest technical education university in Israel. He was elected by the Board of Governors at the Technion to serve as honorary president of the Society after serving three times as president in the Society. He donated funds for scholarships for Technion students and for the building of the Central Library of the Technion, which was accomplished in 1965 when the library moved from the old building in Hadar HaCarmel to the new campus in Neve Shanan in Haifa. Therefore the library is named after him. He endowed a chair in Sephardic studies at Yeshiva University and donated to the school his collection of Judaica in the Spanish language and Ladino, the largest such collection in the United States. ==Family==

Elyachar had twin sons, Ralph and Daniel, and a daughter, Ruth, by his first wife, A resident of Manhattan, Elyachar died of a heart attack at the age 90 on March 29, 1989, at Bellevue Hospital Center. He was survived by his second wife, Anna Tulin. He was also survived by a daughter and two sons from his first marriage, along with 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. ==References==