David Tidhar

David Tidhar
David Tidhar (before 1950)
Native name	Hebrew: דוד תדהר
Born	David Todrosovitz 1897
Died	1970
Nationality	Israeli
Genre	Detective fiction Encyclopedia
Notable works	Encyclopedia of the Founders and Builders of Israel (19 vol.)
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David Tidhar (Hebrew: דוד תדהר; 1897 – 1970) was a Jewish-Israeli police officer, private detective and author.

Early life

Tidhar was originally named Todrosovitz. He was involved in community affairs from an early age.

Career

Prior to the outbreak of World War I, he Tidhar founded a sanitary corps that offered advice on how to prevent cholera during the 1916 epidemic and a clothing and shoe distribution program for the impoverished Jewish community.

Tidhar volunteered for the Jewish Legion in 1918 and helped protect Jews during the Jaffa riots of 1921. He was among the first people to join the Haganah self-defense group. Post-war he served in the British-run Palestine Police Force in Jerusalem. In 1926 he left the force and established his own private investigation office.

Shlomo Ben-Yisrael, who founded The Detective Library in 1930, wrote a series of weekly chapbooks with Tidhar as the protagonist. Tidhar went on to edit the 19-volume Encyclopedia of the Founders and Builders of Israel; a non-fiction study of crime in Palestine; and an autobiography.