Early life
Meir was born Golda Mabovitch on 3 May 1898 into a Ukrainian-Jewish family in downtown Kiev in the Russian Empire. Her parents were Blume Neiditch (1868–1951) and Moshe Yitzhak Mabovitch (1864–1944), a carpenter. Meir wrote in her autobiography that her earliest memories were of Moshe boarding up the front door in response to rumours of an imminent pogrom. She was named after Blume's paternal grandmother, Golde. Meir had two sisters, Sheyna (1889–1972) and Tzipora "Tzipke" (later known as Clara; born 1902–1981), as well as five other siblings who died in infancy.
Moshe left Russia to find work in New York City in 1903. In his absence, the rest of the family moved to Pinsk to join Blume's family. In 1905, Moshe moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in search of higher-paying work and found employment in the workshops of the local railroad yard. The following year, he had saved up enough money to bring his family to the United States. Meir, along with Blume, Sheyna, and Tzipke, landed in Quebec and traveled to Milwaukee by train.
Blume ran a grocery store on Milwaukee's north side. By the age of eight, Meir was often put in charge of watching the store when Blume went to buy supplies. Meir attended the Fourth Street Grade School, which is now known by the Golda Meir School, from 1906 to 1912. A leader early on, she and a close friend, Regina Hamburger, organized the American Young Sisters Society, a fundraiser to pay for her classmates' textbooks in 1908. As part of the organization's activities, Meir rented a hall and scheduled a public meeting for the event. She graduated as valedictorian of her class despite frequent tardiness due to having to work in Blume's store.
In 1912, Meir began studying at North Division High School and worked part-time. Her employers included Schuster's department store and the Milwaukee Public Library. Her parents had not wanted her to attend high school.
The following year, Meir took a train to live with her married sister, Sheyna Korngold, in Denver, Colorado. She attended North High School there. The Korngolds held intellectual evenings at their home, where she was exposed to debates on Zionism, literature, women's suffrage, trade unionism, and more. In her autobiography, Meir wrote: "To the extent that my own future convictions were shaped and given form ... those talk-filled nights in Denver played a considerable role." Around 1913, she began dating Morris Meyerson, a sign painter and socialist.
Return to Milwaukee, Zionist activism, and teaching
In 1914, after disagreements with her sister, Golda left North High School, moved out of her sister's home, and found work. After reconciling with her parents, she returned to Milwaukee and resumed studies at North Division High, graduating in 1915. While there, she became an active member of Young Poale Zion, which later became Habonim, the Labor Zionist youth movement. She spoke at public meetings and embraced Socialist Zionism.
She attended the teachers college Milwaukee State Normal School (now University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee) in 1916, and likely part of 1917. In 1917, she took a position at a Yiddish-speaking Folks Schule in Milwaukee. There, she further embraced Labor Zionism.
On 9 July 1917, Golda became a naturalized US citizen, as her father had naturalized, and at that time children of naturalized citizens under the age of 21 received citizenship by descent.
On 24 December 1917, Meir and Meyerson married. However, Meir's precondition for marriage was to settle in Palestine. She had intended to make aliyah (immigration to Israel) straight away, but her plans were disrupted when all transatlantic passenger services were canceled due to the entry of the United States into the First World War. She then threw her energies into Poale Zion activities. A short time after their wedding, she embarked on a fund-raising campaign for Poale Zion that took her across the United States.
Immigration to Mandatory Palestine
In 1921, after the conclusion of the war, the couple moved to Palestine, then part of the British Mandate, along with Meir's sister Sheyna, Sheyna's daughter, and Meir's childhood friend Regina. They sailed on the SS Pocahontas, from New York to Naples, then from there to Tel Aviv by train. Meir's parents subsequently moved to Palestine in 1926.
They were eventually accepted into kibbutz Merhavia in the Jezreel Valley after an initial rejected application. Her duties included picking almonds, planting trees, working in the chicken coops, and running the kitchen. Recognizing her leadership abilities, the kibbutz chose her as its representative to the Histadrut, the General Federation of Labour.
In 1924, the couple left the kibbutz and lived briefly in Tel Aviv before settling in Jerusalem. There, they had two children: a son Menachem in 1924, and a daughter Sarah in 1926. Meir returned to Merhavia for a brief period in 1925.
