|
Herzl, Theodor (1860-1904)
|
| Viennese
journalist and founder of modern political Zionism. |
| Born in Budapest,
Hungary, on May 2, 1860, Herzl was educated in the spirit of the
German-Jewish "Enlightenment." The family moved to Vienna in
1878 after the death of his sister. He received a doctorate in law in 1884
and worked for a short while in courts in Vienna and Salzburg. Within a
year, he left law and devoted himself to writing, for which he had
demonstrated ability from an early age. |
| In 1891 he became
Paris correspondent for the New Free Press (Vienna), the influential
liberal newspaper of the time. Herzl was in Paris to witness the rise of
anti-Semitism which resulted from the court martial of Alfred Dreyfus, a
Jewish army officer, who was divested of his rank in a humiliating public
ceremony in January 1895, as a mob shouted "Death to the Jews."
After considering a number of possibilities, Herzl became convinced that
the only solution to the Jewish problem was the mass exodus of Jews from
their places of residence. Originally he wrote that it didn't matter where
Jews went. He eventually realized that a national home in Palestine was
the answer. |
| He published a
pamphlet, The Jewish State in 1896. Although others had suggested
solutions to anti-Semitism, Herzl was the first to call for immediate
political action. Jewish reaction to his plan was mixed. Many Jews
rejected it as too extreme, although there were those who responded with
enthusiasm and asked him to head what was to become the Zionist movement.
He succeeded in convening the first Zionist Congress in Basle,
Switzerland, August 29-31, 1897. The congress adopted the Basle Program
and established the World Zionist Organization to help create the economic
foundation for the proposed Jewish state. Herzl was elected president of
the organization and chaired the first six Zionist congresses. He spent
much of his time in his remaining years meeting with world leaders, both
Jewish and non-Jewish, trying to enlist financial and political support
for his dream of a Jewish state. He died in 1904 before his dream could
become reality. |
| In 1949 his
remains were transferred to a mountain in western Jerusalem which became
Mount Herzl, and is today a major military cemetery. |
| His works
translated into English include Old-New Land and his diaries. |
