Shimon Peres KBE GCMG (Hebrew: שמעון פרס; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was a Polish-born Israeli statesman. He was the President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the Prime Minister of Israel. He also served as Interim Prime Minister twice. Peres has been a member of 12 cabinets. His political career spanned over 66 years.
He was one of three leaders who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. The others were Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat. All three got the prizes for trying to make peace in the Middle East.
On September 13, 2016, Peres, aged 93, suffered a severe stroke and was hospitalized in Ramat Gan, Israel. He had suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. Two days later, he was reported as being in a serious but stable condition. However, on September 26, an examination found damage to his brainstem. He died on September 28 of complications from the stroke.
His cousin was the American Hollywood actress Lauren Bacall. Their fathers were brothers.