In Hebrew, his first name is an abbreviation of the phrase, "God is my might." Mr. Gal was born in Germany in the early 20s. When Hitler came to power, the family moved to Britain. In 1936, his family moved again, this time to British Mandatory Palestine.

In 1943, at the age of 21, Gal was caught by British police with a firearm in his possession. He was sentenced to seven years in jail, but received a pardon. In 1946, he went to work in the metal shops at Yagur, producing weapons in secret for the pre-state Jewish underground.

According to his teachers, he showed technical ability from an early age. At 15, he invented a bow and arrow contraption that could automatically fire arrows. His metal working apprenticeship honed his skills all the more.

In 1948, the first Arab-Israeli war broke out. Mr. Gal wanted to do something to help his country. Eventually, he was ordered by the Israeli army to develop a weapon - a gun, to be exact - that would be lightweight, automatic, and easy to use.

Mr. Gal set about his task. Six years later, the weapon was ready and delivered to the Israeli army. It quickly proved to be deadly, which in the gun business is a good thing. A soldier - or terrorist, or mobster, or murderer - could fire the weapon with one hand. The clip held 40 shots, and a person could empty it in four seconds.

The weapon Mr. Gal developed has since become a mainstay of armies and secret service agencies around the world. More than 1.5 million of them have been made, and Israel, which owns the patent for the weapon, has earned billions of dollars. Mr. Gal never received anything beyond his company salary and pension.

When Mr. Gal developed the weapon the company he worked for, Israel Military Industries, needed a name for it. They thought it would be an honor to name it after its inventor, Mr. Gal. He was strongly opposed to the gun being named after him, but the management of IMI persisted.

"Obviously, he was proud to be identified with the product of his craftsmanship," Gal's son, Iddo, is quoted as saying. "But he was also a modest man who made efforts to move on to other things."

Mr. Gal died Sept. 7 in Philadelphia. He and his wife moved there in 1976 to obtain treatment for their daughter, Tamar, who had a rare brain disorder. She died in 1984. Mrs. Gal died in 1998.

In Israel, his weapon is now obsolete. American-made M-16s or Israeli Galil assault rifles are all the rage now.

You've heard of this weapon. It was named after Mr. Gal after all, despite his objections.

Only they didn't use his last name. They used his first name.

Uzi.