BOG 2019: Regina Brenes Scholarship Fund Inaugurated

The scholarships will benefit students performing military reserve duty
17 June 2019
Vice President for Resource Development Amos Elad, Prof. Ruth Stella Amossy, Vice President Raanan Rein and President of the French Friends Prof. François Heilbronn. Photo: Chen Galili

A moving ceremony was held to inaugurate the Regina Brenes Scholarship Fund dedicated to students who are reserve soldiers in the IDF. The ceremony was held in the presence of Regina Brenes’s daughter, TAU’s Prof. Ruth-Stella Amossy, and family, President of the French Friends Prof. François Heilbronn, TAU Vice President Raanan Rein and TAU Vice President for Resource Development Amos Elad.  

 

"Regina Brenes and her husband Leopold lived their youth during the Second World War, and did not have the opportunity to study, which is why they sought to help Israeli students," said Prof. Rein at the ceremony. "We express here our gratitude to them, as well as to their daughter, Prof. Amossy, for her activities in the framework of the French Friends Association and for her relations with the leading French academic institutions, such as Sciences Po and the Collège de France.

 

"Prof. Amossy is one of the pillars of Tel Aviv University, and her family is an example of continuity and dedication to this great university," said Amos Elad, adding that, "the teamwork of the French Friends is a model for other Friends associations of TAU in the world."

 

"Stella is an exceptional teacher, activist and donor," said Prof. Heilbronn. "Her mother, Regina, was a great lady, a Holocaust survivor who was a shining example for her family but also for us, and wanted to help students in need. I thank you, and your mother through you,” he said.

 

In her response, Prof. Amossy said, "It's a very emotional day for me. My mother passed away at the age of 95 in 2017. She learned Hebrew at age 60, spoke it perfectly, and read the Haaretz newspaper and the novels of Amos Oz in Hebrew. She was not seeking out honors and did not like official ceremonies, but she asked me to create a scholarship to help students serving in the Israel Defense Forces.”

 

Brenes established a scholarship fund in memory of her late husband in 2012, awarded alternately to a management student and a student of Ethiopian origin, noted Amossy.

 

Prof. Amossy’s son, Yossi Amossy, spoke movingly of his grandmother Regina. “She was a woman of great nobility who did not have the opportunity to study at university. We welcome her name now at Tel Aviv University,” he said.

 

The ceremony was followed by a lecture by artist Eyal Gever, son of Prof. Amossy, on the theme: "Making Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” who said, “For me, Regina is a symbol of hope, and I dedicate this presentation to her.”

 

The inaugural scholarships were awarded to TAU students Elishav Lotem and Oleg Borovsky.

 

 

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