Theodor Herzl (Herzl Theodor)

(1860-1904)
Born in Budapest on May 2, 1860 into a Jewish family, who had a central European (Ashkenazi) and the Spanish-Portuguese (Sephardic) roots. When Herzl turned 18 years old, the family moved to Vienna, where Herzl was educated, and then a doctorate in law at the University of Vienna (1884). Soon left legal practice and devoted himself to literary work. By the age of thirty has written 17 plays (six of which were staged) and numerous articles, travel writing and fairy tales. Some of them included in collections of news from Venus (Neues von der Venus, 1887) and The Book of stupidity (Das Buch der Narrheit, 1888).
In 1891-1895 Herzl was the Paris correspondent of the Vienna newspaper Neue Freie Press' ( 'Neue Freie Presse'). In these years, France experienced a period of economic scandals, political crisis, social conflict and the rising tide of anti-Semitism, culminating in the Dreyfus. Highlighting these events, Herzl expressed his dismay at the play Ghetto (Das Ghetto, 1894; was later renamed the New Ghetto, Das Neue Ghetto; staged in 1898). Developed a plan for the revival of the Jewish state and the settlement of the Jewish people of his ancestral lands. The plan Herzl, the land should buy, which required the diplomatic negotiations. Arguments in favor of such steps and a detailed project implementation of the idea of motion in his book The Jewish State (Der Judenstaat), published in Vienna in 1896.

Following his convictions, Herzl began to negotiations as a 'statesman' without the state, government or any politically organized group. Not having official status and not having influence, Herzl appealed to the rulers, public officials and financiers, deciding the fate of Europe and the Middle East.

Herzl convened on the initiative of 1-th Zionist Congress, held in Basel, founded an organization that was supposed to represent the Jews as a political force, namely the World Zionist Organization (August 1897). The motion was aimed at the development of national consciousness of the Jews by teaching them the basics of the Jewish religion, Hebrew, familiarity with Jewish literature and art, as well as strengthen the commitment of Jews to build a Jewish state in Palestine. Led by Herzl organization began to collect funds necessary for the formation of a new State. Herzl organized the production in Vienna in German Zionist weekly newspaper 'Die Welt' ( 'Die Welt', 1897).

Herzl was exclusively devoted to the idea of an independent Jewish state. With the exception of the UK government (to invite Territories in Uganda), . other governments about its idea of a hostile or suspicious, . and even friendship policy doubted the financial possibilities of Zionism and the ability of Jews to settle in the new place and build a state,
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Herzl died in Edlahe (Austria), July 3, 1904.