- Person
- 1936-2009
Mendel Kaplan was a prominent leader of the South African Jewish community, an industrialist executive with the firm Cape Gate, philanthropist and community activist. Mendel Kaplan was born in South Africa. After graduating from Wynberg Boys' High, he received a degree in law from the University of Cape Town in 1958 and an MBA from Columbia University in 1960.
Kaplan was the honorary president of Keren Hayesod and a former chairman of the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors. He financed numerous philanthropic projects in South Africa, Israel and Jewish communities around the world. In 1980, he founded the Isaac and Jessie Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Cape Town. In 2000, he established the South African Jewish Museum.
Mendel Kaplan passed away on 19 November 2009. [Source: https://www.jpost.com/; https://en.wikipedia.org/]