Meir Dizengoff (Hebrew: מֵאִיר דִּיזֶנְגּוֹף‎, Russian: Меер Янкелевич Дизенгоф Meer Yankelevich Dizengof, 25 February 1861 – 23 September 1936) was a Zionist leader and politician and the founder and first mayor of Tel Aviv (1911-1922 as head of town planning, 1922-1936 as mayor). Dizengoff's actions in Ottoman Palestine and the British Mandate for Palestine helped lead to the creation of the State of Israel. David Ben-Gurion declared Israeli independence in 1948 at Dizengoff's residence in Tel Aviv.