Benjamin Meir

Benjamin Meir
Benjamin Meir
Full name	Benjamin Meir
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Biographical information
Father	Joseph Meir
Mother	Imelda Meir
Spouse	Letizia Meir
Children	Maria Meir Pablo Meir Benjamin Meir, Jr. Isabelle Meir Fernanda Meir Sharon Meir Martin Meir Joseph Meir
Date of birth	20.XV.1573 AN
Place of birth	Abeis, Free State of Haifa
Date of death	1668 AN
Nationality	Natopian (formerly Haifan)
Allegiance(s)	Free State of Haifa  Saint Andre  Natopia
Alma mater	University of Abeis
Occupation	Chancellor of Natopia (1642 AN-1651 AN, 1661 AN-1668 AN) Prime Minister of Haifa (1615 AN-1616 AN) Foreign Minister of Haifa (1602 AN)

Benjamin Meir (1573 AN-1668 AN) was a Haifo-Natopian politician and lawyer who served as the last Prime Minister of Haifa and, after emigrating to Natopia, as Chancellor of Natopia for two non-consecutive terms.

Born in Abeis to a family that had risen with the founding of Haifa, Meir signed the Treaty of Abeis as the republic's Foreign Minister in 1602 AN, held two terms as Mayor of Abeis, and led the Haifan Democratic Party to victory in the republic's last general election. He resigned the premiership in 1616 AN after a dispute over the Treaty of St. Andre and gave up his Haifan citizenship, though he returned in 1620 AN to dissolve the republic and found its successor state, the Most Serene Republic of St. Andre. In Natopia he served as Marshal of Thalassa, Director-General of the Imperial Natopian Constabulary, Chancellor of Natopia, and designated Regent of Natopia. He was created Count of Frenzyville.

Early life

A street in Abeis, Meir's birthplace and early political base.

Meir was born in Abeis, Haifa, on 20.XV.1573 AN, to Joseph Meir and Imelda Meir. Both parents were active in the political movement behind the founding of the republic, and his father served as the first City Police Commissioner of Abeis at the city's foundation. The Meir family built a fortune in real-estate development, led by his mother. Meir graduated from the University of Abeis with a juris doctorate before entering politics.

Career in Haifa

Letterhead of the Free State's Foreign Office, which Meir led as Foreign Minister.

Meir began his career as Foreign Minister of the Free State. In 1602 AN he signed the Treaty of Abeis with the Empire of the Alexandrians, binding Haifa and the empire to treat an armed attack on either as an attack on both, and the same year the Free State concluded a treaty of friendship with North Antarctica. He then served two terms as Mayor of Abeis, winning re-election in 1614 AN with 67 percent of the vote.

The National Journal reports the merger that produced the Haifan Democratic Party under Meir.

Ahead of the republic's last general election, Meir merged the Federation of the Natives with an earlier Democratic Alliance to form the Haifan Democratic Party. The party won four of the six seats in the general election of 1614 AN, against two for the Social Democratic Party, and Meir was ratified Prime Minister of Haifa. At the outset of his ministry he drafted a federal reform constitution that would have abolished the Governor-Generalship and made the prime minister head of state. Its public reading was broadcast to more than ninety thousand viewers, but it was never put to a vote.

As Prime Minister, Meir negotiated the Treaty of St. Andre, under which the principality of Walstadt passed to Natopia in exchange for the port city of Port St. Andre. Haifa proposed the land trade and did not require the exchanged territories to be of equal size. The treaty divided his government, and the dispute led to his resignation late in his term. He gave up his Haifan citizenship at the same time, remarking that "to some, Haifa is merely some component of Hamland." No successor was chosen, and the office stood vacant until the republic was dissolved in 1620 AN.

The seat of government of the Most Serene Republic of St. Andre, the successor republic Meir founded and led as Transitional President.

Though he had left for Natopia in 1617 AN, Meir returned to settle the republic's affairs: he opened the dissolution talks in 1619 AN, signed the Agreement of Dissolution in 1620 AN, and took office as founding Transitional President of the Most Serene Republic of St. Andre, the successor state established at Port St. Andre. As president he organized the republic's first government and its Department of State, and he called the new nation a "grand and new democratic experiment in Apollonia," pledging to step down once it adopted a constitution and elected a president of its own.

Career in Natopia

On 1.XIII.1617 AN, Meir arrived in Natopia following a self-imposed exile from Haifa. He was appointed Marshal of Thalassa, the office that governed the demesne for the Emperor. In 1639 AN he was appointed Director-General of the Imperial Natopian Constabulary and Minister of Culture, and in 1643 AN the Alexandrian crown inducted him into its Legion of Honour as a Grand Officer.

The Frenzy elected Meir Chancellor of Natopia, and he held the office for two non-consecutive terms, from 1642 AN to 1651 AN and from 1661 AN to 1668 AN. He was created Count of Frenzyville for his service during the first term. As Chancellor he appointed the Greivar Tinker Sprocket the first Speaker of the Frenzy in 1645 AN, and he took a seat on the Imperial Court of Natopia from 1648 AN. Between his two chancellorships he served as Lord High Steward of the Most Serene Union, and in 1661 AN he stood as a witness at the wedding of Emperor Francis Joseph IV of Alexandria and Queen Elizabeth I of Caputia. From 1666 AN he was a designated Regent of Natopia, one of the figures the Emperor could call on to exercise imperial powers in his absence.

Death

Meir died in 1668 AN, during his second term as Chancellor and his designation as Regent. He was succeeded as Chancellor first by Tinker Sprocket in an acting capacity and then by Clara Sundara, and as designated Regent by Ernesto de la Cruz.

Legacy

Meir's former home in Abeis, later used as a film set by Meir Networks.

Benjamin Meir College stands in the Natopian demesne of Saint Andre, and the Port St. Andre Naval Station houses the Benjamin Meir Central Communications Hub. Meir is the only person inducted into both the Order of the Black Hole and the Order of the Yoshi. In Caputian-era Abeis, the Meir Networks studio at Blakestown used his former home as the set for its first film, the 1653 AN romance The Lands We Met.

Offices held

• Foreign Minister of Haifa (1602 AN)
• Mayor of Abeis (1610 AN-1614 AN)
• Mayor of Abeis, second term (1614 AN-1615 AN)
• Prime Minister of Haifa (1615 AN-1616 AN)
• Transitional President of the Most Serene Republic of St. Andre (1620 AN)
• Marshal of Thalassa (1617 AN)
• Director-General of the Imperial Natopian Constabulary (1639 AN)
• Minister of Culture (1639 AN)
• Chancellor of Natopia (1642 AN-1651 AN)
• Chancellor of Natopia (1661 AN-1668 AN)
• Designated Regent of Natopia (1666 AN-1668 AN)

Titles and honors

• Count of Frenzyville
• Prince of Natopia
• Knight of the Ancient and Secret Order of the Black Hole (OBH)
• Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Yoshi (OY)
• Lord Triumphant of the Triumphal Order of the Four Quarters (OFQ)
• Heroic Knight of the Natopian Order of Imperial Civil Excellence
• Grand Officer of the Alexandrian Legion of Honour
• Lord High Steward of the Most Serene Union
• Natopia Day List of Glory, Gloriously Listed, First among Equals

Family

Meir was married to Letizia Meir. They had eight children:

• Maria Meir, the eldest, Countess of Frenzyville and Princess of Saint Andre, later a designated Regent of Natopia and mother of two sons, Augustus and Emmanuel;
• Pablo Meir;
• Benjamin Meir, Jr.;
• Isabelle Meir;
• Fernanda Meir;
• Sharon Meir;
• Martin Meir;
• Joseph Meir.

Through his parents, Joseph Meir and Imelda Meir, Meir belonged to the House of Meir.

See also

• House of Meir
• Free State of Haifa
• Chancellor of Natopia

References

Preceded by: Noor bint Daniyal (Acting)	Chancellor of Natopia 1642 AN-1651 AN	Succeeded by Joshua St Endellion
Preceded by: Li Naomiai	Chancellor of Natopia 1661 AN-1668 AN	Succeeded by Tinker Sprocket (Acting)