BGU&U | SPRING 2022

The Tamman family of Geneva at the Gabriel and Angel Tamman Gate. Photo: Shay Shmueli

youth movement that helped Jews flee to Israel saved thousands of his fellow Egyptian Jews’ lives, but it also led to his arrest and imprisonment, almost costing him his life. These travails, said Tamman’s son David, might have hardened another man, but in the case of Tamman, they only made him more compassionate – and more determined to help build the State of Israel. And help he did: The global property developer who spent most of his adult life in Switzerland supported both medical and educational institutions throughout Israel, including Ben-Gurion University.

Earlier the same day, BGU unveiled the renovated and renamed Gabriel and Angel Tamman Gate at a moving ceremony attended by members of the Tamman family from around the world. “As one of the largest centers of education in Israel, [Ben Gurion University] really carves out the future of the State,” said David Tamman. “That’s how my father saw it, and he would have been so proud to be part of that.” As a teenager growing up in Cairo, Gabriel Tamman (1932 2021) witnessed firsthand the violent dissolution of Egypt’s once thriving Jewish population. His work for an underground

In recognition of his valued partnership with BGU, as well as the role he played in helping save thousands of Egyptian Jews, Tamman was honored posthumously with the 2021 Ben-Gurion Award.

Photo: Shay Shmueli

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