Harsgor was born Michael Goldberg in
Bucharest into a Jewish family who were refugees from the
October Revolution in Russia who settled in
Romania. Early on, Harsgor's parents had the desire to give him a Western education and therefore his family moved to
France. The economic crisis of 1929 damaged his father's business and therefore in 1933 his family returned to Romania. Harsgor's family intended to immigrate to
Mandatory Palestine, but this proved impossible during
World War II. His entire family perished in the
Holocaust. Because he was a member of the Socialist–Zionist youth movement
Hashomer Hatzair the Romanian fascist authorities sentenced him to 20 years of imprisonment with hard labor. Harsgor ended up working in the printing press of the prison. In 1944 he was released from prison, and continued to be active in the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement. In 1946, after being active in gathering Jewish teenagers in Romania and facilitating their immigration to
Palestine, he himself immigrated to the then British ruled country. The British authorities limited the Jewish immigration quota at that time and all the passengers on the ship taking him to Palestine were seized and imprisoned in camps in
Cyprus. They were released in early 1949, after the
establishment of the State of Israel. In Cyprus Harsgor changed his name from Goldberg to Harsgor, sometimes spelled in the press as Har-Segor, Har Segor, Harsgur etc. Harsgor was among the founding members of Kibbutz
Zikim and was the person who gave the kibbutz its name. Harsgor was a member of
Maki, the Israeli communist party at the time, and worked as a reporter for the party newspaper
Kol HaAm. At that time he met his wife Tamar, and his daughter Niva was born. Harsgor began his academic studies at the
Tel Aviv University. He excelled in his Bachelor's degree and therefore the Tel Aviv University sent him to France to continue his studies. Harsgor studied in France for six years. For his academic achievement Harsgor was awarded the degree of
Docteur d'État, a degree which is usually not awarded to foreigners. Between 1962 and 1966 Harsgor taught history in the municipal
Ironi Dalet High School in
Tel Aviv. In 1974, Harsgor was in
Lisbon during the
Carnation Revolution, and as a result, the history of
Portugal became one of his major topics of interest. For more than twenty years, Harsgor hosted the regularly weekly seven o'clock evening program "Sha'a Historit" ('History Hour') on the
Galatz radio station, together with the Israeli radio broadcaster
Alex Ansky. His grandson is former deputy mayor of Kfar Saba, Ilai Harsgor Hendin. Harsgor died on 10 February 2011 at the age of 86 in the city of
Kfar Saba due to
kidney disease. ==References==