David Ben Gurion (1886-1973) was a key early leader in the Zionist movement and the first Prime Minister of Israel. He was born in Poland and immigrated to Palestine as a young man, joining socialist Zionist groups. He helped establish agricultural communes, served as head of the Histadrut labor federation, and was instrumental in the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, serving twice as its first Prime Minister. Later in life he retired to a kibbutz in the Negev desert but remained an influential political figure.