Theodor Herzl

1860–1904

2 standalone books

Theodor Herzl was born on May 2, 1860, in Budapest, Hungary, then part of the Austrian Empire. He was the founder of the political form of Zionism, a movement aimed at establishing a Jewish homeland. In 1896, Herzl published the pamphlet The Jewish State, in which he argued that the Jewish question was a political issue that should be resolved by a world council of nations. He organized the first World Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in August 1897 and was elected its first president. The congress established the World Zionist Organization, which became the central body of the Zionist movement. Herzl died on July 3, 1904, in Edlach, Austria. Though he died more than 40 years before the founding of the State of Israel, he played a crucial role in transforming Zionism into a significant international political movement.

Born

1860