Theodor Herzl

Theodor Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, dramatist, political activist, and writer, is regarded as the founder of contemporary political Zionism. He lived from 2 May 1860 to 3 July 1904. In an endeavor to establish a Jewish state, Herzl founded the Zionist Organization and encouraged Jewish immigration to Palestine.

Few activists had the same impact, controversy, and significance as him. His life path led him from a wealthy upbringing in Budapest's Jewish Quarter to founding the modern political Zionist movement and, decades after his death, to the creation of Israel. Herzl, the only child of a German-speaking secular-Jewish businessman, started his career as a journalist and initially supported assimilation of Jews into European culture. However, after covering the Dreyfus affair in Paris and witnessing the rife anti-Semitism of the Belle Époque era, he came to the conclusion that the only way for Judaism to survive would be the creation of a Jewish state, preferably in the religion's.

The State of the Jews, which Herzl wrote in 1896, attracted both supporters and opponents on a global scale. To further the movement, Herzl made presentations to world leaders like the German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Sultan of Turkey Abdulhamid II. Herzl traveled extensively after forming the World Zionist Organization to advance his idea, but at the young age of 44 he passed away from heart disease. His supporters, however, were successful in advancing the cause. Today, the Israeli Declaration of Independence makes reference to Herzl, and the square in front of Budapest's iconic Dohány Street Synagogue retains his name.