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Dawid AZRYLEWICZ

aka David Azrieli

Dawid Azrylewicz (aka David Azrieli) was born on 10 May 1922 in Makow-Mazowiecki, Poland, David Azrieli was the second of four children of Sara-Chaya (née Gerwer) and Rafael Hirsch Azrylewicz.

In September 1939, he escaped the Nazi occupation of his hometown by moving eastward into Soviet-occupied Poland. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, he fled further east always managing to stay just one step ahead of the Nazis. In the Soviet Union he spent time in Gomel, Stalingrad, Ulyanovsk, Tashkent and Bukhara. In the fall of 1942, he joined the Polish 2nd Corps in Bukhara and evacuated the USSR with them to Persia (now Iran) and then to Baghdad. In Baghdad, with the help of Moshe Dayan and Enzo Sereni, he was concealed on a bus that smuggled weapons into Palestine, hidden in coffins. In 1946, David Azrieli learned that, of his family, only one brother had survived the Holocaust.

He studied architecture at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and fought with distinction in Israel’s war of independence before settling in Canada in 1954. he arrived here with no family connections and literally, penniless. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Université de Montréal and working at a number of jobs, he had enough saved for his first solo project in 1957 - construction of four duplexes on vacant lots he purchased in Ville D’Anjou.

It was the start of a real-estate juggernaut that would eventually include thousands of apartment units, office buildings and shopping centres in Canada, the U.S. and Israel. Among his local holdings is the downtown Dominion Square Building housing The Gazette, acquired for $78.25 million in 2005, and the Sofitel Hotel.

The Azrieli Group also held interests in companies active in the fields of energy, water and finance. He remained its chairman until daughter Danna succeeded him, a move prompted by his medical condition.

David Azrieli’s unparalleled professional success in both Canada and Israel mirrored his deep love and devotion to both countries. “I have two homelands,” he once said, “two places I love and where I have been blessed to do what I love best. My opportunity to express myself professionally started in Canada and eventually let me fulfill my dream of making a contribution to my other homeland, Israel. The two have always been entwined.” David Azrieli was National President of the Canadian Zionist Federation in the 1980s and, throughout his life, was an active leader in the Jewish community and in many organizations related to Israeli educational institutions. His two companies – Montreal-based Canpro Investments Ltd. and the Tel Aviv-based Azrieli Group – are considered leaders in their fields. In 2007, Azrieli completed construction of three skyscrapers in Tel Aviv, collectively known as the Azrieli Center – the first and most unique of their kind in the Middle East.

In 1984, David was named to the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honour. In 1999, he was named “chevalier” of the Ordre National du Québec, the province’s highest civilian honour. David’s lifelong commitment to philanthropic causes has been realized in the programs and institutions he has supported personally and through the establishment of the Azrieli FSource:oundation. In this way, Azrieli has helped pave the way for others to achieve individual and community success.

David married Stephanie Lefcourt. They had four children: Rafael, Sharon, Naomi, Danna.

David passed away on 9 July 2014, at his country house overlooking Lake Manitou, near Sudbury, Ontario. A visionary, builder and world-renowned businessman, leader, philanthropist and devoted Zionist, he was ninety-two.

Source: His memoir + published obituaries.

Copyright: Azrieli family

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