The International Cartographic Association is saddened to hear of the passing of Professor Pinhas Yoeli. In 2005 Prof Yoeli received an Honorary Fellowship from the International Cartographic Association.
Prof Yoeli was born on 1 July 1920 in Bayreuth, Germany. In 1936 he immigrated to Israel (then British mandatory Palestine) and, in 1938 he volunteered into the Israeli pre-state army, the Hagana. He later headed the Topography Department. In 1948, he established and commanded the Cartography Department of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Later he was also appointed deputy director of the Israel Survey Department.
From 1952 to 1956 he studied at the faculty of Geodesy and Cartography at ETH in Zürich, Switzerland, where he received his degree (Dip. Ing. ETH). In 1957 he was released from the IDF and started teaching at the Israeli Technological Institute (Teknion) in Haifa, Israel. He quickly attained the post of Associate Professor and was appointed the head of the Department of Geodesy and Cartography in the Faculty of Civil Engineering.
In 1972 he was appointed Full Professor in the Faculty of Geography at Tel Aviv University. He worked until his retirement in 1991 when he became Professor Emeritus till his death on 4 April 2011. From 1988 to 1991 he was chairman of the Israeli Cartographic Association.
Over the years, Professor Yoeli was invited for Sabbaticals to many academic institutes and universities throughout the world, including Switzerland (teaching and researching at the ETH Zürich and the Zürich University), Australia (at RMIT), England and USA. In addition, he worked as a consultant to well known cartographic firms in Switzerland, Sweden and Scotland.
He published many papers in all major international cartographic journals. His book, Cartographic Drawing With Computers, the first in its kind, was published by the University of Nottingham, UK in 1982.
Professor Yoeli’s contributions to Cartography and GI Science are respected by the international academic and professional Cartography and GI Science communities. The awards he received in Israel and internationally for his research reflects the esteem in which he was held globally.
The International Cartographic Association extends its sincere sympathy to Professor Yoeli’s widow, Agnes, his family, friends and colleagues.
William Cartwright