| AdminHistory | Born Wyszogrod, Poland, 1859; grew up in the town of Plock; received a comprehensive Jewish and secular education; married 1865 and lived in his father-in-law's house in Makw; began to write in a variety of fields - commentaries on Jewish topics, poetry, stories, plays, scientific articles, etc; his first literary effort was a report from Plock to the Hebrew weekly ''Ivri Anokhi', 1874; continued sending reports to the newspaper 'ha-Tsefirah', 1876, and soon became its regular columnist on scientific affairs; also developed his writings in other languages (Yiddish, German, and Polish); wrote his first article of a political nature for 'Ha-Melits', calling on the Russian government to grant civil rights to Jews, 1878; more of his articles appeared in 'ha-Tsefirah', which, thanks to his influence, abandoned its focus on disseminating scientific information in favour of literature and current affairs; moved to Warsaw, 1880, and became director of ha-Tsefirah's editorial board and a columnist for the newspaper; published books in the fields of history and belles lettres, and was Hebrew literature's most prolific author for many years and the most prominent, influential, and popular Hebrew journalist; founded and edited the yearbook 'ha-Asif', 1884-1893; edited the Polish weekly 'Izraelita', 1895, and the literary annual 'Sefer ha-Shanah', 1899-1905; founder and editor of the Yiddish daily newspaper 'Der Telegraf', 1906; initially expressed reservations about the proto-Zionist Hibat Tsiyon movement and Theodor Herzl's 'Jewish State', but after attending the First Zionist Congress in 1897 as the correspondent for 'ha-Tsefirah' he became one of Herzl's greatest admirers, turning 'ha-Tsefirah' into the principal platform for Herzl and political Zionism; became involved in an abortive plan to publish a general encyclopedia in Hebrew; appointed General Secretary, World Zionist Organization, 1906; established its official Hebrew weekly, 'ha-'Olam', 1907; a member of the Zionist executive, 1911, becoming its head after World War I; moved to London, 1914, and was involved in Zionist political activity in England and in other countries; played an important role in the efforts which eventually achieved the Balfour Declaration, 1917; headed the Jewish delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, 1919; head of the Comit des Dlgations Juives; representative of world Jewry at the League of Nations; participated in the founding of the Hebrew Writers' Union, 1921; Chairman of every Zionist Congress from 1921 until his death; Chairman, Jewish Agency, 1929; President, Zionist Organization, 1931-1935, honorary president, 1935-1936; Chairman of the Jewish Agency's Department of Education and Culture and of Mosad Bialik, 1935-1936;at the end of his life he worked on the preparation of a lexicon on the history of the Hebrew language; died London, 1936. Publications include: 'Matsuke Arets' (1878); 'Sin'at 'Olam le-'Am 'Olam' on the origins and history of antisemitism (1882); 'Torat Sefat Anglit', an English textbook (1882); 'Tsadik ve-Nisgav', a biography of Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann Heller (1883); 'Erets Hemdah' on the geography of the Land of Israel (1885); 'Sefer ha-Zikaron', the first lexicon of Hebrew authors (1889); 'Le-Maranan ule-Rabanan' explaining Zionism to religious circles (1901); 'Ne'ure ha-Nesher' a historical novel (1901); 'Tel Aviv', a translation of Herzl's 'Altneuland' into Hebrew; 'History of Zionism 1600-1918' (1919); 'Barukh Spinoza u-Zemano' (1929); 'ha-Ani ha-Kibutsi', a study of the psychology of the collective, (1930); 'Ishim', portraits in essay form of contemporary writers, artists, and public figures (1935); 'Hibbath Zion' (1935); after his death 'Sefer Sokolow', edited by S. Rawidowitz , was published, containing a selection of his early writings with an evaluation and bibliography of his works (1943). |